- Former Vice President Mike Pence does not plan to appeal a subpoena requiring him to testify
- The order seeks the Republican lawmaker's account of former President Donald Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election
- Trump could still appeal the order if he claims executive privilege on his conversations with Pence
Former United States Vice President Mike Pence revealed through a spokesperson on Wednesday that he does plan to appeal a judge's subpoena that requires him to testify in his former boss' attempted efforts to overturn the 2020 elections.
Devin O'Malley, Pence's spokesman, said that the former vice president, having vindicated that principle of the Constitution, will comply with the judge's subpoena as required by law. This comes as former President Donald Trump can still appeal the decision if he chooses to invoke executive privilege.
Mike Pence Agrees To Testify in Donald Trump Case
This could guard his conversations with Pence before the Capitol building siege, where he appealed for the former vice president to help prevent Joe Biden's certification, as per USA Today.
Many believe that the order to have Pence testify is because his account of his conversations with his former boss could damage the former president. The former vice president was seen as instrumental to Trump's strategy in preventing Biden's election win.
The strategy that John Eastman, Trump's lawyer, mapped out called for the former vice president, who at the time held the position of president of the Senate. He asked Pence to reject electors from seven contested states where Biden won against Trump.
Pence was then given the option of either accepting the alternate electors who supported his former boss or sending the contest to the House. However, the former vice president refused to participate in the strategy, instead fleeing the Senate chamber as a group of Trump supporters gathered outside the building, with some threatening his life.
The order to have Pence testify, as well as his agreement to talk, marks the first time that a vice president has complied with a criminal investigation subpoena to testify regarding the actions of a then-president. This means that Pence is in a position to define the powers of his former office, according to CNN.
Invoking the Speech or Debate Clause
The situation comes as Pence is seen to be readying himself for a potential challenge of his former boss for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Special counsel Jack Smith has worked to pursue interactions that several top Trump administration advisers have had with the former president.
However, ensuring that Pence testifies regarding the case could provide one of the most crucial first-hand accounts for investigators to review. This is due to Trump's heated one-on-one phone conversations with the former vice president before the Capitol riot and how the former president's supporters threatened to hang Pence.
The decision also comes as Pence initially believed that the subpoena was problematic because he argued that the Constitution makes the vice president a mixed creature of the executive and legislative branches. This meant that, to a point, Pence's actions at the Capitol could have allowed him to invoke the "speech or debate" clause to protect him from criminal inquiries, said Politico.
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