Former VP Mark Pence Agrees to Testify Before Jack Smith’s Grand Jury

Pence Screen Shot

After a lot of performance art to try to show his loyalty to former President Trump, saying repeatedly he was considering challenging U.S. District Judge James Boasberg compelling him to testify to the January 6th Grand Judy.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will not appeal a U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruling that ordered him to testify to a grand jury in the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a spokesman for Pence said in a statement.

"Vice President Mike Pence swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and his claim that the Biden Special Counsel's unprecedented subpoena was unconstitutional under the Speech or Debate Clause was an important one made to preserve the Separation of Powers outlined by our Founders."

” The Court's landmark and historic ruling affirmed for the first time in history that the Speech or Debate Clause extends to the Vice President of the United States. Having vindicated that principle of the Constitution, Vice President Pence will not appeal the Judge's ruling and will comply with the subpoena as required by law."

Pence's testimony could emerge as a key moment in a special counsel's investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. When Pence’s testimony needs to be clarified, Trump can still try to inter-seed and appeal James Boasberg, that ordered Pence to appear before the grand jury to the U.S. District of Court of Appeals but is not likely to win a reversal and then try to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Both courts have been quickly tossing Trump’s claims of executive privilege, so any appeals would likely only stall Pence’s testimony for 2-3 weeks.

Trump, a front-runner in the Republican presidential field ahead of the November 2024 election, is under investigation for his efforts to overturn the election results, which included pressuring Pence not to certify the results of the election, a largely ceremonial role for the vice president. Pence declined to entertain that idea, paving the way for a split between the two men. Pence is also exploring a presidential run in 2024.

Pence’s testimony, along with testimony from Trump’s Chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and eight white house ads and members of the Trump administration, will solidify both a criminal indictment with an array of charges that could confine Trump to prison for the rest of his life.