The subpoena that former Vice President Mike Pence received from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith as part of his inquiry into the former president’s involvement in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, will reportedly be appealed by former president Trump’s legal team, according to The Hill.
The subpoena for Pence to produce documents and give testimony about his interactions with Trump in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and the uprising was first reported by CBS on Friday, when a source close to Trump’s legal team said the subpoena would be contested by the president’s attorneys. An executive privilege defense would be used in the challenge.
The intentions were also disclosed to NBC News by a person acquainted with the conversations Trump’s legal team members are having.
The subpoena-fighting strategy of Trump’s attorneys was originally revealed by CBS News.
According to NBC News, Smith reportedly subpoeanaed local authorities in crucial presidential swing states for all correspondence between Trump, his campaign, and a number of advisers and associates who helped him attempt to rig the 2020 election.
Smith’s actions suggested that he was investigating a plot involving Trump’s fictitious electors, a group of people who signed papers claiming to be the legitimate electors in their states and falsely declared that Trump had won those states.
According to information gathered by the House committee established to look into the Jan. 6 attack, the fake electors also forwarded false certifications of Trump victories to the National Archives in an effort to have Mike Pence replace them with the real electoral votes that elected Joe Biden president.
In an effort to prevent the committee from getting the papers it needed for its inquiry, Trump has repeatedly tried to assert executive privilege.
Trump and Pence famously fell out when Pence declined to annul the 2020 election results. Since the conclusion of his presidency, the former president has sharply condemned Pence over the event.
Nevertheless, after learning of the subpoena, Trump praised Pence as an “honorable man” in an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday.
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