Donald Trump on Wednesday night lost his latest attempt to block Mike Pence from testifying about their talks after the 2020 election, including around the January 6 riots.
The decision, filed under seal by the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit but reported on by CNN, means that Pence will now have to appear before a grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith.
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to independently investigate attempts to block the post-election transfer of power.
Smith subpoenaed Pence and the Trump team sued to block Pence from appearing.
Trump’s lawyers cited presidential privilege.
On Wednesday night, three appellate judges — Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins and Greg Katsas — ruled that Pence must testify.
Mike Pence, seen giving a speech in North Carolina on Wednesday night, will have to testify before a grand jury looking into Donald Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 election, after an appeals court ruled against him. Trump’s attempt to block it.
Trump, pictured on April 4, argued that his talks with Pence were protected by executive privilege.
Pence has said Trump was wrong to recruit him to overturn the election, and the then-Vice President was inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he was attacked (pictured)
Pence himself has already said that he will comply with his decision.
Trump could try to appeal again, even taking the matter to the Supreme Court, but so far he has not taken such a drastic step, with other similar situations.
Pence has hinted that he would be outspoken.
“I have nothing to hide,” the former vice president told reporters in Iowa.
“I’ve written and talked a lot about that day,” he added.
In his book, Pence said Trump called him a “wimp” for refusing to overturn the election results.
In March, Pence spoke at the annual White Tie Gridiron Dinner in Washington, D.C. and delivered his strongest rebuke of Trump yet.
‘President Trump was wrong. He had no right to overturn the election, and his reckless words put my family and everyone on Capitol Hill in danger that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump to account,” Pence said.
Jack Smith was appointed special prosecutor in November and is investigating the events of January 6.
Smith is overseeing an investigation looking into the former president’s role in the attempt to overturn the presidential election and the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Former President Donald Trump (left) appealed a judge’s order requiring his former Vice President, Mike Pence (right), to testify in the special counsel’s investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. His appeal on Wednesday was denied.
On Tuesday, Pence spoke at the Federalist Society’s annual Executive Branch Review Conference, held just blocks from the White House at the Mayflower Hotel, and used his comments to attack Biden.
On Wednesday, Pence was in North Carolina, addressing a meeting at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and delivering a speech titled: “Saving America from the Wakeful Left.”
Asked if he would support Trump’s candidacy in 2024, Pence, who is considering his own campaign, said he would prefer someone else.
“It is a free country, the former president has every right to seek office again,” he said.
‘But, there might be someone out there who I support more.
‘Different times call for different leadership.’
