Federal prosecutors are requesting that former Vice President Mike Pence be forced to testify to the special counsel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Pence has sought to avoid complying to a grand jury subpoena in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6 on separation of powers grounds. Federal prosecutors are seeking to overrule that, filing a request to Chief Judge Beryl Howell to force Pence’s testimony, three people familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Pence’s legal team will now need to move to convince the judge and jury that their legal interpretation is the right one.
FORMER JUDGE AND INFORMAL ADVISER TO PENCE QUESTIONS STRATEGY TO AVOID SUBPOENA
Pence has been preparing to invoke the speech and debate clause, which protects members of Congress from being questioned about legislative activity by other federal branches. He argues that he was a member of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, given his unique position as president of the Senate while he was certifying Electoral College votes.
“On the day of Jan. 6, I was acting as president of the Senate, presiding over a joint session described in the Constitution itself,” Pence told reporters in Iowa. “So, I believe that that speech and debate clause of the Constitution actually prohibits the executive branch from compelling me to appear in a court, as the Constitution says, or in any other place.”
“We’ll stand on that principle, and we’ll take that case as far as it needs to go, if it needs be to the Supreme Court of the United States,” he added.
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Howell’s term as chief judge over all grand juries in Washington, D.C., is set to expire March 17, at which point a new judge will be appointed.
