Chattanooga Times Free Press

Pence intends to challenge special counsel subpoena on 2020 election

- BY JILL COLVIN AND ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to fight a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing investigat­ions into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to people familiar with his thinking.

Pence and his attorneys are planning to cite constituti­onal grounds as they prepare to resist special counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to compel his testimony before a grand jury. They argue that because Pence was serving in his role as president of the Senate on Jan. 6, 2021, as he presided over a joint session of Congress to certify the election results, he is protected from being forced to address his actions under the Constituti­on’s “speech-ordebate” clause that shields members of Congress.

“I think he views it as essential protection of his constituti­onal role,” said Marc Short, a close adviser to Pence who served as his White House chief of staff.

Short compared Pence’s position to the one he took Jan. 6 when he refused to go along with Trump’s unconstitu­tional scheme to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Pence’s rejection of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office in the aftermath.

“The vice president of the United State is the president of the Senate and the fact is the functions of Jan. 6 were specific to that role,” he said of Pence, who has been laying the groundwork for a likely presidenti­al campaign that would put him in direct competitio­n against his former boss.

Whether Pence’s arguments will succeed in limiting or altogether avoiding grand jury testimony is unclear, but the Justice Department is expected to oppose those efforts and to make the case that the former vice president’s cooperatio­n is essential for a probe focused on Trump’s actions.

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