The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force Vice President Mike Pence to testify in front of a grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s actions following the 2020 election. According to three sources who spoke with CBS news, federal prosecutors filed the motion in anticipation that Pence might assert executive privilege on behalf of Trump in an effort to get out of testifying.
Trump’s lawyers have responded similarly to other subpoenas over the past year. His attorneys successfully argued that private conversations with a president should remain confidential, and he avoided testifying in front of the grand jury.
The former vice president has not appeared in front of the grand jury, and no privilege claims have actually been raised in court according to CBS sources. But given the Justice Department, and now the special counsel’s difficulty in getting officials to testify, federal prosecutors are asking the judge to anticipate the executive privilege request and deny it.
The Jan. 6 investigation into Trump was handed over to a special counsel last year. This happened at the same time Trump’s Mar-a-Lago investigation was handed over to a special counsel.