Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he refused to testify before the Justice Department as part of the investigation into the assault on the Capitol, although he said he would go before the Supreme Court if necessary.
«I’m going to fight the Justice Department’s subpoena of (President Joe) Biden to appear before the grand jury because I think it’s unconstitutional, and it’s unprecedented,» Pence told reporters after an event in the state of Iowa, according to ‘The Hill’.
The former vice president will claim that his summons before the State Department does not comply with the principle of separation of powers, since being ‘number two’ of the then president was also president of the Senate, which would make him a member of the legislative branch.
However, he would not be able to argue the same before the Supreme Court, the judicial body to which he is preparing to go, according to Pence in statements to the press.
«I’m aware that President Trump is going to bring an executive privilege claim,» he said. «That will be his claim to file. That’s his fight. My fight is on the separation of powers principle of the U.S. Constitution,» he added.
The U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed the former vice president again on Feb. 10 to request his testimony in the criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s role during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
The special prosecutor overseeing the Trump investigations, Jack Smith, asked Pence for documents and testimony related to the failed attempt by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.
This is not the first time that the Justice Department cites Trump’s former ‘number two’, since in November the judicial body of the US government called the former vice president to come to give his testimony, although he finally refused.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
