Former US Vice President Mike Pence has shown this Wednesday his refusal to testify before the Department of Justice in the framework of the investigation into the assault on the Capitol, although he has stated that 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 holding an event in the state of Iowa, as reported by ‘The Hill’.
The former vice president will affirm that his summons to 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 could not argue the same before the Supreme Court, a judicial body to which he is preparing to go, according to Pence in statements to the press.
“I am aware that President Trump is going to file a lawsuit for executive privilege,” he said. “That will be his claim to present. That is his fight. My fight is in the principle of separation of powers of the United States Constitution,” he added.
The US Department of Justice summoned the former vice president again on February 10 to request his testimony in the criminal investigation into the role of former President Donald Trump during the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Special counsel overseeing Trump investigations Jack Smith has 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 has cited Trump’s former ‘number two’, since in November the US government’s judicial body called the former vice president to come give his testimony, although he finally refused.
