Pence: Leave me out of it
Plans to argue Senate role shields him from elex plot testimony – report
Former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly planning to resist a subpoena to testify against former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
In a move that will likely at least delay Pence from spilling the beans, the ex-veep plans to argue that his largely ceremonial role as president of the Senate shields him from being ordered to testify, Politico first reported.
Pence would cite the constitutional “speech or debate clause” that generally prevents lawmakers from legal scrutiny for their legislative work.
Some legal analysts are skeptical of Pence’s claim, although they suggested it could succeed in delaying any appearance before the grand jury probing Trump’s plot.
“Mike Pence is making a bizarre and unprecedented argument in an attempt to avoid testifying before the grand jury,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti tweeted.
Courts have generally been deferential to prosecutors seeking to investigate alleged crimes even when their actions may infringe to some degree on other constitutional protections.
Trump is also seeking to block Pence from testifying against him, but he has cited executive privilege, which can shield the secrecy of presidential decision-making.
Pence may speak about his decision to fight the grand jury subpoena during a political swing through the GOP first caucus state of Iowa on Wednesday.
He has refused to speak either in public or under oath about Trump’s scheme to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Pence, who is considering a 2024 White House run, has walked a tightrope about Jan. 6 from the moment Trump sicced a mob of extremist MAGA loyalists on him after he rebuffed his ex-boss’ coup plot.
Despite the bitter rift with Trump, Pence has shied away from openly criticizing him. He may fear offending Trump’s supporters, who are sure to play a pivotal role in the 2024 GOP presidential primary race.
Pence rejected the congressional Jan. 6 committee’s push for him to speak, arguing that Congress had no right to demand that from a member of the executive branch. Now he is effectively changing his tune, claiming that he was actually part of the legislative branch all along.
The subpoena marked an aggressive new step from special counsel Jack Smith, a former Brooklyn federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department’s public corruption section and who oversaw indictments against major political figures.