DoJ Special Counsel issues subpoena to former VP Pence regarding Trump’s role in Jan. 6

The Special Counsel appointed by the Department of Justice to investigate former president Donald Trump’s role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 has issued a subpoena for former vice president Mike Pence. 

First reported by ABC News, the Pence subpoena asks for documentation and testimony related to the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in a bloody riot at the Capitol Building on the day Congress convened to formalize the election results. Pence’s attorneys have fought since 2020 to avoid having the former vice president called to testify in the investigation into Trump’s specific role in the leadup and execution of the attack.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is also tasked with investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents that were kept at Mar-a-Lago by the Trump administration, faces a battle with Pence’s legal team over what information is and is not protected by executive privilege. Trump and his allies have consistently argued executive privilege as the reason they cannot provide proper testimony or documentation in this investigation and the probe by the House Special Committee to Investigate January 6th, which wrapped up its work at the end of 2022.

Former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien was also subpoenaed this week by Smith’s office in relation to the January 6 investigation, according to CNN. O’Brien has also received a separate subpoena in the classified documents investigation. O’Brien has previously claimed executive privilege to avoid testifying.