Mike Pence testifies before a federal grand jury over the investigation of Donald Trump.
The former vice president was sought to detail information regarding the former president's involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
The Capitol siege happened after the 2020 elections as Trump claimed the results were fraudulent.
Former United States Vice President Mike Pence testifies before a federal grand jury responsible for investigating former U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican businessman's involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
The Republican's testimony is seen as a momentous moment amid the criminal investigation of his former boss. It is also the first time that a former vice president was compelled to testify about the president that he previously served side by side with.
Mike Pence Testifies Before Grand Jury
The former vice president's testimony lasted for more than five hours, said a source familiar with the matter. During an interview following the testimony, Pence's former adviser Marc Short said that his boss had his own case based on the Speech and Debate Clause, as per CNN.
He added that Pence was pleased for the first time that a judge acknowledged that the clause applied to the vice president of the U.S. However, Short noted that his former boss was willing to comply with the law as courts ordered him to testify for the investigation.
The former vice president was set to testify regarding details of his direct conversations with Trump leading up to the Capitol Hill riot. At the time, Trump repeatedly and unsuccessfully pressured his second-in-command to curb the finalization of the results of the 2020 presidential elections where Joe Biden won.
These conversations included a phone call on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. Previously, a federal judge ruled that Pence could be compelled to testify that he and the former president had where the Republican businessman may have acted in a corrupt manner.
Pence's testimony is seen to be a crucial moment for the investigation. The former vice president previously published a memoir that detailed his interactions with Trump but left some of the details vague, according to NBC News.
Claims of Executive Privilege
The former vice president's appearance before the grand jury comes amid an increased security presence at the federal courthouse in Washington on Thursday. Reports noted that there were several black SUVs that had tinted windows going into the building's parking garage earlier in the morning.
At around 9:00 a.m., two black SUVs were seen entering the courthouse garage, using an entrance that would allow witnesses to head up to the grand jury rooms that are found on the third floor without the worry of being seen in the public areas of the building.
Trump previously tried to prevent Pence's testimony by claiming that the subpoena was in violation of the speech or debate clause of the Constitution. He argued that his conversations with his former vice president were protected by executive privilege.
However, courts rebuffed the former president's arguments and Pence partially won in his effort to delay or limit the testimony that the grand jury was seeking from him. The chief judge in charge of the case allowed the former vice president to not talk about matters connected to his role as president of the Senate during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, said the New York Times.
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