The Justice Department's prosecutors are seeking testimony from former United States Vice President Mike Pence amid the Jan. 6 investigations of attempted electoral interference.
The probe seeks to determine whether or not there was an attempt by former President Donald Trump and his allies to disrupt the transfer of power to Joe Biden following the election results of the 2020 presidential race.
Mike Pence's Potential Testimony
However, it remains unclear whether or not Pence would be willing to cooperate with the Justice Department or if Trump will once again assert executive privilege over any potential testimony. It comes as the former vice president has already publicly spoken out about his interactions with his former boss during the chaotic weeks ahead of Biden's certification.
Pence described his resistance to the withering pressure campaign that Trump allegedly applied on him during that time. He also included passages about his exchanges with the former president in a newly published book which could complicate privilege claims over various aspects of their conversations, as per Politico.
Spokespeople for Pence declined to comment regarding news of the Justice Department's attempt to secure the former vice president's testimony in the investigations. It is also still a mystery whether or not the recent appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith to oversee the investigation will affect investigations regarding Pence's possible testimony.
The former vice president was the target of a last-ditch effort by Trump leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when Pence was required to preside over the last step in the election process, which was Congress' counting of electoral votes.
According to the New York Times, people familiar with the matter claim that Pence was open to considering the request of the Justice Department. They said that he recognizes that the investigation is different from the inquiry by the House Select Committee, whose requests he has flatly rejected.
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Jan. 6 Investigations
The request comes as Pence is believed to have been present for some of the critical moments in Trump's attempt to maintain his power as president. If there ever comes an agreement that gets Pence to testify, it would be the latest remarkable twist in an investigation that is already fraught with legal and political consequences.
One of the lead investigators examining the efforts to overturn the election, Thomas Windom, was the one who reached out to Pence's team in the weeks prior to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland's appointment of Smith as special counsel.
Negotiations regarding the potential testimony from Pence are said to be in their early stages and come as the former vice president has not been subpoenaed. Many also expect the process to take months, primarily because Trump can seek to block, or hinder, the testimony with his invocation of executive privilege.
The situation comes as the Justice Department previously had success in securing answers from top Pence advisers Greg Jacob and Marc Short. These were seen as significant court victories that could allow the department to continue its criminal investigation to reach further into the former president's inner circle, CNN reported.
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