Justice Department seeks to question Pence in Jan. 6 inquest: report
Justice Department investigators are planning to speak with former Vice President Mike Pence as part of the Department’s investigation into the events that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, according to a report.
At least one investigator, Thomas Windom, has reached out to Pence’s team in recent weeks to question Pence about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The former vice president is reportedly willing to review the Justice Department’s request and was contacted ahead of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Jack Smith as the special counsel overseeing the department’s two separate investigations into Trump.
The former commander in chief is under investigation by the DOJ for his handling of sensitive White House documents after his presidency and for the Jan. 6 riot.
The DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation is also separate from the House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 Committee investigation into the fallout from the 2020 election. According to the report, Pence views the Justice Department’s investigation differently than the House of Representatives’ because it is a criminal one investigation.
Pence said last week that he was “closing the door” on the prospect of appearing before the House panel because of what he called the “partisan nature” of the committee.
“With that, I’m closing the door,” Pence said in an interview with CBS News last week.
“But I have to say again, the partisan nature of the January 6 committee was a disappointment to me,” he added. “In the beginning it seemed to me that there was an opportunity to examine every aspect of what happened on January 6th in a more 9/11 Commission spirit, impartially, non-politically, and that was a missed opportunity . ”
Trump could slow the process of getting Pence to sit down with federal investigators by invoking executive branch privilege to stop or limit his testimony. The former president asserted executive privilege earlier this year when he tried to block two former Pence aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, from testifying in grand jury interviews related to the investigation.
Pence is reportedly open to the DOJ’s request for the interview.
Pence will be evacuated from the Senate Chamber of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Pence said he would not testify before the House Committee on Jan. 6.
Pence has spoken openly about the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol as he makes media rounds to promote his new book So Help Me God.
The former vice president has accused Trump of being “reckless” the day his supporters stormed the Capitol after he held a rally to protest the 2020 election results. Pence was at the Capitol Jan. 6 presiding over proceedings to confirm Joe Biden’s election victory.
“The president’s words were reckless and his actions were reckless,” Pence told ABC’s David Muir earlier this month.
“The President’s words that day at the rally put me and my family and everyone in the Capitol building at risk,” added Pence, who was with his daughter on January 6.
According to the New York Times, the government is still in the early stages of talks with Pence about attending an interview. Pence has not been subpoenaed and the process could take months if Trump invokes executive privileges.
A spokesman for Pence declined the Post’s request for comment.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/justice-department-seeks-to-question-pence-in-jan-6-probe-report/ Justice Department seeks to question Pence in Jan. 6 inquest: report
