The special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack has asked a judge in Washington, D.C., to compel former Vice President Mike Pence to comply with a grand jury subpoena and testify as a witness into the events surrounding the incident, reports CBS News.
Pence is expected to fight a recent subpoena from Jack Smith, the special counsel, based on the grounds that he was president of the Senate at the time and therefore shielded from the order.
Smith is examining whether Trump sought to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election and defrauded the U.S. in seeking to overturn the results.
Pence allies say he is covered by the speech or debate clause of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress from having to worry that anything they say in the course of legislative activities will implicate them in a lawsuit.
"He thinks that the 'speech or debate' clause is a core protection for Article I, for the legislature," one of the two people familiar with Pence's thinking told Politico. "He feels it really goes to the heart of some separation of powers issues. He feels duty-bound to maintain that protection, even if it means litigating it."
Mark Rozell, a George Mason University political scientist who specializes in executive privilege, told Politico a court might have to weigh in on the issue.
"It is admittedly a constitutionally murky area with no clear outcome," said Rozell. "Since there is a legislative function involved in the vice president presiding over the Senate, a court very well could decide that it must address the scope of the speech or debate privilege and whether it would apply in this case."
Smith has also subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, to testify.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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