What role did Donald Trump play in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021? His former Vice President, who is now answering questions from the indictment jury, could provide important information for the investigation.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence has given up his opposition to testimony about the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. A spokesman said Pence would not be appealing a late-March verdict but would comply with a grand jury subpoena.
A few days ago, a judge ruled that Pence could be questioned about talks with Trump regarding potential law violations by the then president. It is specifically about the days before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. On that day, Trump supporters stormed the Houses of Parliament in Washington, while there the election victory of his challenger Joe Biden in the presidential election was to be officially sealed.
Trump had previously goaded the crowd with unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. Pence was then Vice President of the Capitol session that was interrupted by the attack. With reference to this, Pence had always rejected the investigators’ request for a statement on the events of January 6th. Pence also chaired the Senate as vice president, and he invoked a safeguard clause over debates in Congress. That means: Pence has to answer questions about the talks with then-President Trump in the time before the storm. However, he is allowed to refuse questions about the events of January 6th.
One of Trump’s many legal problems
Pence had written in his memoirs that Trump and his lawyer had tried to convince him in the days before to refuse to confirm Biden’s election victory at the meeting. Pence spoke out against it. According to the judge’s decision, the vice president could at least be questioned about these conversations.
The investigations into the Capitol attack are among several legal problems facing Trump, who plans to return to the White House in 2024. It is not known how far the investigation has progressed. Trump could be charged with disrupting a public hearing and conspiring against the United States, possibly even with violent insurgency.
Trump had to appear in New York for an indictment on Tuesday. The public prosecutor’s office there has accused him of falsifying business documents in 34 cases. The whole thing is related to hush money payments to a porn actress shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges.