Former Vice President Mike Pence spent five hours last Thursday testifying before the federal grand jury in Washington DC which is investigating the efforts of then-President Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, the Associated Press reported
Pence’s appearance before the grand jury called by special counsel Jack Smith came just one day after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the former president’s final attempt to prevent the grand jury from questioning Pence.
Federal prosecutors have been trying for months to question the former vice president whose testimony is considered vital to the investigation since Pence took part in White House discussions in the weeks following the 2020 election and leading up to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Earlier efforts to prevent Pence’s testimony failed in March when a federal district judge ordered the former vice president to appear in front of the grand jury by striking down two separate challenges, including one from Pence.
But in mid-April, lawyers representing Trump asked the appeals court to reverse the judge’s second ruling on Trump’s attempt to narrow the scope of questioning based on executive privilege. Trump’s lawyers asked the appeals court to postpone Pence’s testimony until after it ruled on the appeal.
But last Wednesday, the appeals court rejected Trump’s request.
Last Friday while visiting New Hampshire, Trump was asked by NBC News reporter Jonathan Allen about Pence testifying in the grand jury probe. The former president admitted that he didn’t know what Pence said, but added that he “had a lot of confidence in him.”
According to former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Trump’s brief response amounted to intimidating a witness.
During Sunday’s broadcast of “Inside With Jen Psaki,” the former Biden official and her guest Neal Katyal discussed Pence’s grand jury appearance and Trump’s terse response, which Psaki described as “something out of the Sopranos,” according to Mediaite.
Katyal agreed, claiming that the former president has “always tried to intimidate witnesses.”
But how intimidating could it be given Trump said it the day after the witness already testified?
