As has been anticipated for weeks, former Vice President Mike Pence has asked a judge to block the Biden administration Justice Department's subpoena for Jan. 6 testimony, arguing he has constitutional protection under the "speech and debate" clause.
Pence's motion was filed Friday night, sources told CNN, as former President Donald Trump was asking a judge to block Pence's appearance before a grand jury, citing executive privilege.
Pence has denounced efforts to force his appearance before a grand jury as an "unconstitutional and unprecedented" move by prosecutors of the political opposition. The supposed goal: to find a crime with which to indict Trump administration officials.
Critics of Trump and his subordinates have contended the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was incited by the former president, who held a rally shortly before the episode there and reiterated claims of a fixed 2020 election.
Thus far, investigations into Jan. 6 have identified no legal exposure for Trump administration figures, but Biden's DOJ is still searching and has subpoenaed the former vice president to talk about Jan. 6 and his interactions with other Trump officials.
Trump has separately motioned to block Pence's testimony under constitutional executive privilege, contending the president can keep aides from discussing internal communications and deliberations.
President Joe Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed prosecutor Jack Smith to look into the events of Jan. 6. Critics of that move note Smith has a previously expressed anti-Trump bent.
Pence's use of the speech-and-debate clause boils down to this: As president of the Senate on Jan. 6, Pence has the right to assert his communications from that time are protected under the Constitution.
An account of Pence's Jan. 6 interactions with Trump was included in the vice president's memoir, "So Help Me God."
Pence's legal team has told the DOJ he would be willing to discuss matters he has discussed publicly, including in the book, but he wants the questions restricted to those matters.
Pence has vowed to fight the subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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