Mike Pence Must Testify In Jan. 6 Special Counsel Investigation, Judge Rules

The Daily Caller

Mike Pence Must Testify In Jan. 6 Special Counsel Investigation, Judge Rules

Mary Lou Masters on March 28, 2023

Former Vice President Mike Pence has to testify before a grand jury regarding his conversations with former President Donald Trump during and before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, sources told CNN.

Federal Judge James Boasberg ruled that Pence must testify in the Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into the degree of involvement the former president had with the storming of the Capitol, sources familiar with the sealed ruling told CNN. Pence will still be allowed to decline to answer questions during his appearance before the grand jury that relate to his own actions in the certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6.

Pence was initially subpoenaed for documents and testimony by Smith back in February, and has since planned to challenge it. The former vice president planned to fight Smith’s subpoena via a novel argument, the “speech and debate” clause, on the grounds that he was a working member of the Legislature on that day, and couldn’t comment on such legal proceedings.


“He feels it really goes to the heart of some separation of powers issues. He feels duty-bound to maintain that protection, even if it means litigating it,” a source close to Pence told Politico.

Citing his role as president of the Senate to protect him from testifying would have been a “first time” argument, Roy Brownell, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s former counsel, told Politico.

The former vice president is still able to appeal, according to CNN.

Mark Meadows, former Trump chief of staff, was subpoenaed before Pence back in January and could push back citing executive privilege. Former Trump officials and Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, and his lawyer, Greg Jacob, have already testified.

Pence’s team did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.