Pence testifies before grand jury in 2020 election probe, AP source says

VIDEO | 01:30

Pence testifies in Trump election probe

Former Vice President Mike Pence has testified before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by then-President Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the 2020 election.

By ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press

April 27, 2023 3:24 PM PT

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by then-President Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person requested anonymity to discuss the private hearing before the grand jury.

Pence’s appearance in Washington, testifying about the president he once served, is a milestone in the Justice Department’s investigation. It could give prosecutors a key first-person account about certain conversations and events in the weeks preceding the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It also carries significant political implications, coming as Pence hints at entering the 2024 presidential race and a potential run against Trump, the Republican front-runner.

The testimony came hours after a federal appeals court in a sealed order rejected a bid by Trump’s lawyers to block Pence’s appearance.

Pence was subpoenaed to testify earlier this year, but Trump’s lawyers objected, citing executive privilege concerns. A judge in March refused to block Pence’s appearance, but sided with the former vice president’s constitutional claims that he could not be forced to answer questions about anything related to his role presiding over the Senate’s certification of votes Jan. 6.

“We’ll obey the law. We’ll tell the truth,” Pence said in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday. “And the story that I’ve been telling the American people all across the country, the story that I wrote in the pages of my memoir, that’ll be the story I tell in that setting.”

Pence has spoken extensively about Trump’s pressure campaign urging him to reject Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in the days leading up to Jan. 6, including in his book “So Help Me God.” The vice president had a ceremonial role overseeing Congress’ counting of the electoral college vote but did not have the power to affect the results, despite Trump’s contention.

Pence, a former Indiana governor and congressman, has said that Trump endangered his family and everyone else who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that history will hold him “accountable.”

“For four years, we had a close working relationship. It did not end well,” Pence wrote.

His lawyers had raised a narrower challenge to the subpoena. They argued that because Pence was serving in his capacity as president of the Senate as electoral votes were being counted in Congress on Jan. 6, he was protected from being forced to testify about that process under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which is intended to protect members of Congress from being questioned about official legislative acts.

A judge agreed with that argument, effectively narrowing the scope of his expected testimony.

The Justice Department special counsel leading the investigation, Jack Smith, has cast a broad net in interviews and has sought the testimony of a long list of former Trump aides, including ex-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former advisor Stephen Miller.

Separately, Smith is investigating Trump over the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified documents at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as possible efforts to obstruct that probe. On Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers urged the House Intelligence Committee to step in by holding hearings and introducing legislation to correct classified document handling procedures in the White House and to standardize procedures for presidents and vice presidents for when they leave office.

“DOJ should be ordered to stand down, and the intelligence community should instead conduct an appropriate investigation and provide a full report to this Committee, as well as your counterparts in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote.

It is unclear when the special counsel’s investigations will end or whether anyone will be charged.