Former Vice President Mike Pence testified on Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by ex-President Donald Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the 2020 election. The testimony took place behind closed doors, with Pence entering and leaving the courthouse without attracting media attention.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is leading two criminal probes by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into Trump, including an investigation into classified documents found at Trump's Florida estate in August. Smith is also heading the DOJ's probe into former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
According to previous testimonies given before the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump repeatedly pressured Pence to block Congress' certification of Joe Biden's victory by acting in his role as president of the Senate.
Pence had been ordered to testify about most but not all issues that special counsel Jack Smith may have planned regarding Trump’s efforts to overturn election results. Other witnesses have said that then-President Trump sought to bully Pence into backing his “Stop-the-Steal” campaign and hoped he would refuse certifying President Biden's win during a Jan.6 congressional session.
As he considers challenging his former running mate in a possible bid for presidency in 2024, Pence has sought to avoid publicly criticizing him. His lawyers have asked Republican lawmakers to pass legislation that would remove authority over this investigation from both Department of Justice and Special Counsel Jack Smith and give it instead exclusively to intelligence community who would be unable investigate it criminally. Mike Pennington, political analyst with Hudson Institute stated: "This development underscores how critical this grand jury testimony could be for determining whether there was any illegality involved in attempts made by ex-President Donald J.Trump or those close around him during their effort to challenge the outcome of 2020 election."
Trump has already made history as the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges, following an investigation led by Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg. His legal troubles have mounted since leaving office, including a heated day of testimony during the third day of trial in former columnist E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Trump.
While details about Pence's testimony remain confidential, it is expected that his statements may provide some of the "most sharply incriminating evidence" in DOJ's probe into Trump's efforts to overturn 2020 election results.
As this grand jury investigation continues and more crucial testimonies are given behind closed doors, Americans await further developments on how these proceedings will shape political landscape going forward both for those involved directly and beyond in broader context of democracy at stake within United States today.