Former US Vice President Mike Pence is now ready to testify in the investigation into the January 6, 2021 Capitol storming. The former deputy of ex-President Donald Trump will not appeal against a judge’s decision at the end of March that required him to testify, Pence adviser Devin O’Malley told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. “Vice President Pence will not be appealing the judge’s decision and will be complying with the subpoena as required by law,” O’Malley said.
According to media reports, Pence could testify later this month. His interrogation would be an important success for the US Department of Justice’s special counsel Jack Smith, who wants to question Pence about his talks with Trump around January 6th.
Federal judge James Boasberg in the capital Washington last week ruled that Pence must testify about his discussions with Trump in the days before the attack on Congress. Pence had written in his memoirs that Trump and his lawyer had tried to convince him in the days before to refuse to confirm Biden’s election victory at the meeting. Pence spoke out against it. According to the judge’s decision, the vice president could at least be questioned about these conversations. However, the conservative politician could himself refuse to make any statements about the events of January 6th.
Pence, in his role as Senate President, chaired a session of Congress that day to confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election. He is therefore claiming parliamentary immunity. Trump, in turn, wants to prevent his former deputy from testifying, citing his so-called executive privilege, which allows him to keep certain conversations secret. The ex-president could still appeal Judge Boasberg’s decision, but the chances of success are considered slim.
Radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to prevent Biden’s election victory from being certified. Trump had repeatedly called on Pence to stop parliamentary confirmation of the outcome of the election. Pence refused, however, saying he had no authority to do so.
The attack on the Capitol, as a result of which five people died, shook the United States and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy. For weeks, Trump had been spreading the false claim that massive election fraud had robbed him of a second term. Shortly before the Capitol was stormed, the right-wing populist called on his supporters in a speech to march to the Capitol and fight “whatever the hell”.
Special Counsel Smith is not only examining Trump’s possible criminal responsibility for the attack on Parliament. He also deals with numerous secret documents that Trump took from the White House to his private estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, at the end of his term in office.
Just last Thursday, Trump was charged by the New York judiciary with payments to a porn actress before the 2016 presidential election. The ex-president pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges at a historic court hearing on Tuesday. Manhattan prosecutors are charging the 76-year-old Republican, who wants to run again in the 2024 presidential election, with forging business documents.
Pence has publicly condemned the charges against his former boss. However, he is considered a potential rival to Trump in the race for the conservative Republican presidential candidacy.
