A federal judge in Washington DC ordered this Tuesday the former vice president of the United States Mike Pence (2017-2021) testify in an investigation into the assault on the country’s Capitol, US media reported.
The federal magistrate of the District of Columbia James Boasberg arranged for Pence to offer testimony in front of a grand jury about the former president’s actions Donald Trump (2017-2021) on January 6, 2021, different sources told CNN.
The judge indicates in his resolution – which is not yet public although it has been leaked to the media – that Pence can refuse to testify about his actions during that January 6, a day in which he was serving as president of the Senate during the process to endorse Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump was defeated.
This decision follows a lawsuit filed by Pence’s legal team, which filed an appeal in early March for Judge Boabsberg to block a subpoena to testify in the investigation being carried out by the special counsel. Jack Smith.
Pence’s lawyers argued that he was exempted from testifying because of a provision in the Constitution that prevents congressmen from being subpoenaed to testify in some legal proceedings.
Special counsel Smith is leading a Justice Department investigation into Trump’s role in the events of January 6, as well as another into the former president’s handling of classified documents.
In November, the US Attorney General, Merrick Garland, announced the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the scandals of the former president, who has already announced his intention to compete again for the presidency in 2024.
The investigations into the assault on the Capitol will focus, according to Garland, on finding out if there were one or more people who “interfered in the transfer of power” and in the process of ratifying Biden as president in Congress, after winning the 2020 elections. in front of Trump.
As to Mar-a-Lago, The head of the Department of Justice pointed out that it is necessary to investigate the handling of the classified documents that were found there by the FBI and find out if there was obstruction of Justice during that investigation.
Both Pence and the current president of the United States, Joe Biden, have acknowledged finding classified documents in their respective residences, although both have made themselves available to the authorities to cooperate with any possible investigation, unlike Trump.