leading up to January 6, judge rules 

A federal judge has decided that former Vice President Mike Pencemust testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with Donald rump leading up to January 6, 2021, according to multiple sources familiar with a recent federal court ruling.

But the judge said – in a ruling that remains under seal – that Pence can still decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself, when he was serving as president of the Senate for the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to one of the sources.

The ruling from chief judge James Boasberg of the US District Court in Washington, DC, is a major win for special counsel Jack Smith, who is spearheading the Justice Department investigation.

Pence still has the ability to appeal.

The rump’s conversations with Pence in the days surrounding the insurrection have been of keen interest to investigators probing the attack. Though Pence declined to testify before the House January 6 committee that investigated the insurrection, people in rump’s orbit told the committee about a heated phone call he had with Pence the day of the attack in which he lobbed insults at his vice president.Pence and the rump did not speak during the attack on the Capitol itself, in which many of the rump’s supporters angrily sought him out, and Pence narrowly escaped the mob heading to the Senate floor.

And Pence wrote that Trump told him in a New Year’s Day phone call: “You’re too honest,” predicting that “hundreds of thousands are gonna hate your guts” and “people are gonna think you’re stupid.”

“Mr. President, I don’t question there were irregularities and fraud,” Pence wrote that he told the rump. “It’s just a question of who decides, and under the law that is Congress.”

Last edited by Spunky (3/28/2023 1:56 pm)