Pence Testifies In Special Counsel’s Jan 6 Probe
Mary Lou Masters on April 28, 2023
Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to CNN.
Despite attempts by former President Donald Trump and Pence to avoid the subpoena, Pence appeared before the grand jury, making him the first the vice president in the modern era to testify on the president he served with, according to CNN. The testimony lasted for over five hours during which Pence was asked about conversations with Trump on and leading up to Jan. 6.
“I think that the vice president, you know, had his own case based on the Speech and Debate Clause. He was pleased that for the first time a judge acknowledged that it applied to the vice president of the United States,” Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, told NewsNation post-testimony. “But he was willing to comply with the law, and courts have ordered him to testify.”
Trump previously argued executive privilege should protect the vice president from testifying and Pence cited a novel constitutional argument as reason to avoid testimony, however Federal Judge James Boasberg ruled in March that the vice president must testify.
Pence’s counsel argued that the Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which protects members of the Legislature from engaging in legal matters related to their work, applies to the vice president. They claimed that Pence’s role as president of the Senate barred him from commenting on his legislative duties on Jan. 6, as testifying would violate the separation of powers.
While Trump challenged Boasberg’s ruling, a three-panel D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the order Wednesday evening, leading to the vice president’s testimony the next day.
Smith subpoenaed Pence and other former Trump officials, requesting testimony and documents relating to correspondences with the president to further investigate the role Trump played in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Neither Trump nor Pence immediately responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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