A federal appeals court has rejected a bid by former President Donald Trump to block Mike Pence's testimony before the grand jury investigating former President Trump's efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. The decision sets the stage for Mr. Pence to testify about conversations he had with Mr. Trump leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, and about a broader pressure campaign to stop the then-vice president from certifying the 2020 presidential election results in his role as president of the Senate.
A federal judge rejected Mr. Donald Trump’s executive privilege claims in late March and ordered Mr Pence to testify. A separate investigation, led by the Manhattan attorney, recently revealed that Mr.Trump may have misled his own lawyers about his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Jack Smith, the special counsel probing Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election, has denied a bid by Trump to block Pence testimony before a Jan. 6 grand jury. The ruling is a victory for Smith, who subpoenaed Pence in February, prompting separate challenges by both Trump and Pence.
Trump argued that Pence’s testimony should be barred or limited by executive privilege while Pence argued that his role presiding over Congress on Jan.6 entitled him immunity under "speech or debate" clause protections offered lawmakers during congressional proceedings.
Both men argued that congressional immunity applied on certain topics but Chief U.S District Court Judge James Boasberg rejected these arguments put forward by them stating they cannot prevent testimonies using those reasons provided.
Trump sought an emergency order from the court of appeals but was met with rejection this Wednesday paving way for pence testifying against him eventually unless any other legal recourse is taken up which seems unlikely at this point given previous attempts were futile too so far
It remains unclear when exactly would happen since no dates have been set as yet however given past emergency appeals by Trump, it might occur just days before he is scheduled to appear.
The sealed ruling marks the end of Trump’s efforts to keep Pence from divulging information to federal prosecutors unless his legal team takes the unlikely step of challenging the decision before the full DC circuit or the supreme court.
Pence's testimony holds great importance since he was pressured by Trump unlawfully reject electoral college votes for Joe Biden at joint session Congress and attended December 2021 meeting White House with Republican lawmakers who discussed objections win which are both considered potential key evidence towards proving whether tried obstruct certification defraud United States ultimately in this case
Both requests limit scope largely denied new chief US judge James Boasberg issued clear-cut denial more nuanced ruling that protected part “speech debate” protections