The United States Department of Justice wants to question Donald Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, as part of the investigation into the Republican billionaire’s efforts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election, several US media reported on Wednesday.
Mike Pence for his part will consider this request for testimony, according to sources interviewed by the New York Times and CNN.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland last week appointed a special prosecutor to independently investigate the former president, who announced his 2024 presidential candidacy.
This independent prosecutor now oversees two separate months-long investigations by the federal justice system. The first focuses on Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge his 2020 presidential defeat, up until his supporters’ storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when his Democratic rival Joe Biden’s victory was certified.
The second on the management by the former president of confidential documents supposedly archived after his departure from the White House.
However, the special prosecutor will only be in charge of issuing a recommendation on whether Donald Trump should be charged or not and it will be up to the minister to decide.
The importance of Mike Pence in the investigation
The request of the US justice to Mike Pence, who has not yet been officially summoned as a witness, precedes the appointment of the independent prosecutor, according to the New York Times.
The former Republican president had publicly pressured Mike Pence not to certify the results of the January 6, 2021 elections. Actions denounced as “irresponsible” by Mike Pence, who nevertheless refused to be heard during the Commission of Inquiry of the House of Representatives on the attack on the Capitol.
The potential presidential candidate for 2024, Mike Pence could this time consider testifying because it is a criminal investigation, according to the New York Times.
Donald Trump could try to prevent the testimony of his former vice president by using executive prerogative to keep his communications confidential, as he tried to do with other officials called to testify in the federal investigation.
Source: BFM TV
