United States
Department of Justice wants to question Pence about storming Capitol
Mike Pence, former US Vice President. photo
© Mark J. Terrill/AP/dpa
On January 6th, then-US Vice President Mike Pence will chair the session of Congress formally confirming Joe Biden’s election victory. The anger of Trump supporters is also directed at him.
The US Department of Justice is reportedly wanting to question former Vice President Mike Pence in connection with the storming of the US Capitol. Pence’s team indicated that the 63-year-old was open to possible talks, reports the “New York Times” and the broadcaster CNN, among others.
Pence recently stated that he was considering running for the White House executive chair – and was thus also prepared to compete against his former companion Donald Trump.
Trump supporters stormed the seat of parliament in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump’s democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that. At that time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – legally a purely ceremonial task.
Trump had previously openly called on his deputy to block the procedure. Pence has also been close to Trump at key moments surrounding the attempt to overturn the election.
The Justice Department has long been investigating the attack and those involved. However, it is still unclear whether the ministry could also prosecute the ex-president because of his role in it. The House of Representatives committee of inquiry had presented a number of witnesses at several public hearings who had heavily incriminated Trump. Trump criticizes the investigation as a whole as politically motivated and has long complained that it was just an attempt by his opponents to prevent him from returning to the White House.