Washington, D.C. – A federal judge has ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before a grand jury about his conversations with Donald Trump leading up to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, according to sources close to the case. Chief Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court in Washington, DC has ruled that Pence can decline to answer questions about his actions on January 6, but must testify about the conversations he had with Trump during the days before and after the attack.
This ruling is a significant victory for special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the Justice Department’s investigation into the attack. Pence still has the option to appeal the decision.
Pence faced immense pressure from Trump and his allies to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s win in Congress, as he was serving as president of the Senate during the certification proceedings. His conversations with Trump have been a point of interest for investigators probing the attack.
While Pence declined to testify before the House select committee that investigated the insurrection, he detailed some of the conversations in a memoir published last year. In the book, Pence wrote that Trump predicted the hatred of hundreds of thousands of people would be directed towards Pence as he was “too honest” to attempt to overturn the election results.
Smith is investigating the Trump-aligned effort to subvert the 2020 election and had subpoenaed Pence for testimony and documents earlier this year. Pence had indicated that he would challenge the subpoena under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which shields lawmakers from certain law enforcement actions related to their legislative duties.
Pence’s constitutional arguments have attracted criticism from legal scholars, including former Judge Michael Luttig, a conservative legal luminary who publicly argued that Pence should certify the electoral results.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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