Status: 02/10/2023 02:29 am
Former US Vice President Pence has been summoned by special counsel Smith, according to US media reports. It is therefore about the handling of secret documents and the attempt by ex-President Trump to overturn the election results.
The special counsel for the investigation into former US President Donald Trump is said to have subpoenaed his former deputy Mike Pence and then National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. Pence should make a statement, and documents were also requested, several US media reported. It remained unclear when exactly the summons should have taken place.
The US Department of Justice appointed special counsel Jack Smith in November to oversee the investigation into Trump. On the one hand, Smith is to deal with the investigations into secret government documents that Trump kept in his private home Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. On the other hand, the special investigator should take care of investigations into the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. According to CNN, this is what Pence’s subpoena is about.
No comment from Pence or Smith
The special counsel is particularly interested in the exchange between Trump and Pence about the riots. Pence could invoke executive privilege – the government’s prerogative to keep certain information secret. Pence’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Smith’s office declined to comment on the CNN and ABC reports.
Trump supporters had stormed the seat of parliament in Washington a good two years ago. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump’s democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that. At the time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – legally a purely ceremonial task, but Trump had previously openly called on his Vice President to block the procedure.
Pence served as Vice President Trump from 2017 to 2021. It’s widely believed that Pence wants to run as the Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election. However, he would first have to assert himself in the internal party primaries against Trump, who has already announced his candidacy.