Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a motion to ask the court to force Mike Pence to comply with his subpoena.
Robert Costa of CBS News tweeted:
Per 3 people familiar with the investigation, the motion to compel Pence’s testimony – filed in secret to Chief Judge Beryl Howell in recent days – came after lawyers for former President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege in response to Pence’s subpoena… w/ @RobLegare
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 23, 2023
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FYI: The motion to compel filed by the special counsel's office is the logical next step in a criminal probe, with prosecutors seeking force a witness or third party to comply with a grand jury subpoena. It asks the court to uphold the subpoena’s legal authority.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 23, 2023
Special Counsel Smith is responding to Trump’s claim of executive privilege and Pence’s claim that he was an officer of the legislative branch, so he is protected from testifying by the speech and debate clause but seeking to have the court uphold the legitimacy of the subpoena.
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Pence and Trump are likely to lose because their defenses have been tried elsewhere already and failed. Pence, by definition, was not a member of the legislative branch. The vice president is a member of the executive branch. Even if Pence loses to Smith and the subpoena is upheld, he will probably continue to fight.
Mike Pence is very likely to be running for the Republican presidential nomination, so he is going to attempt to avoid testifying because doing so would make him seem disloyal to Trump.
Pence’s reasoning is delusional because, after 1/6, many Trump supporters consider the former vice president to be the antichrist.
Mike Pence doesn’t realize it yet, but his political ended on 1/6/2021. The special counsel isn’t messing around. The former VP will discover what happens to people who protect Donald Trump.
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
