Signs Grow The DOJ Is Coming For Trump As Mike Pence Chief Of Staff Testifies Before Criminal Grand Jury

Marc Short, who was Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff, has testified before the DOJ criminal grand jury investigating the 1/6 attack.

The New York Times reported:

Marc Short, who was chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the highest ranking official of the Trump administration so far known to have cooperated with the Justice Department’s widening inquiry into the events leading up to the assault.

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Mr. Short’s appearance was the latest indication that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the events surrounding and leading up to the events of Jan. 6 is intensifying amid growing questions about the urgency the department has placed on examining Mr. Trump’s potential criminal liability.

The DOJ Is Looking At Trump To See If He Can Be Charged

The Justice Department did not subpoena Mike Pence’s chief of staff because they are looking for low-level people. It is a virtual certainty that prosecutors wanted Short’s testimony related to Trump’s pressure campaign to get Pence to overturn the election.

Pence supported Marc Short’s testimony before the 1/6 Committee. The former Vice President has been unwilling to testify before the 1/6 Committee because he still harbors 2024 presidential ambitions, but if the DOJ subpoenaed him, Mike Pence would have to appear before the grand jury.

There is no executive privilege for criminal acts committed by a president, so Pence could not avoid testifying with such a claim.

Trump’s major criminal liability remains in Fulton County, Georgia, but the Department of Justice appears to be investigating Trump. There is no one else in the White House who could be the focus of a 1/6 criminal investigation.

The news of Short’s testimony is another strong signal that the Department of Justice is investigating Trump.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association