Former Vice President Pence will fight Special Counsel Jack Smith’s subpoena from the Justice Department.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, according to reports from Fox News, plans to oppose a subpoena from the Justice Department demanding he testifies about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to affect the outcome of the 2020 election.
A Pence ally told Fox News on Tuesday morning that the former vice president plans to challenge the subpoena issued last week by Special Counsel Jack Smith in connection with the Jan. 6 investigation into Trump, claiming that he should be exempt from the order because he was president of the Senate at the time. To my knowledge, Pence has no plans to use executive privilege at this time.
Pence is opposed to the DOJ subpoena, as was first reported by Politico on Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of his views.
A former assistant to former Vice President Mike Pence has said that a subpoena from the Department of Justice will serve as a “security blanket” for his 2024 presidential campaign.
Politico reports that the ex-vice president’s supporters argue he cannot be prosecuted for words made while doing official parliamentary business due to the “speech and debate provision,” which provides that politicians cannot be held legally liable for statements made during such work. According to sources close to Pence, federal prosecutors cannot require his testimony over critical aspects of Smith’s investigation because the Constitution separates powers.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of the two people familiar with Pence’s legal approach told Politico that Pence viewed the “speaking or debate” clause as a crucial safeguard for Article I, for the legislature. “That, he says, is where the real issues with separation of powers lie. His sense of duty compels him to fight for the protection of such advantages in court.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence is the highest-ranking member of Trump’s administration so far to be summoned for testimony as part of the investigation into efforts to affect the results of the 2020 presidential election.
But Trump hasn’t said if he plans to utilize presidential privilege, a provision that protects the confidentiality of White House discussions, to prevent Pence from testifying.
In the wake of the January 6 incident and a separate investigation into the possible storage of classified materials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, multiple news outlets reported last week that former Trump administration national security adviser Robert O’Brien had been subpoenaed by the special counsel.
The FBI discovered another classified government document at Pence’s Indiana home on Friday, adding to the one his legal team discovered there last month. After consultation between Pence’s legal team and the DOJ, the investigation was determined to be entirely consensual.
Following Trump’s November declaration that he will seek the Republican nomination again in 2024, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Smith as special counsel to oversee investigations involving Trump. When classified documents were found at President Biden’s home and old office last month, Garland appointed another special counsel, Robert Hur, to investigate.