Mike Pence says he won’t testify before January 6 committee

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday ended any expectation that he would testify in person before the House committee on Jan. 6.

Appearing on CBS’ ‘Face The Nation’, Mr Pence was candid about Republicans seeking other options when he spoke about his former boss, former President Donald Trump, who launched his third candidacy last week. to the White House. But Mr. Pence does not intend to discuss the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol before the committee.

His former chief of staff, Marc Short, and legal adviser Greg Jacobs have already spoken to the committee, but the committee’s future is uncertain because four of the eight members will not return to the next Congress, which will be led by a Republican majority.

“I served 12 years in Congress. It is inconceivable to me that a party appoints every member of a congressional committee. It’s contrary to the whole idea of ​​the committee system,” Pence said of the Jan. 6 committee that was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“That being said, I have never prevented senior members of my team from cooperating with the committee and testifying. But Congress has no right to my testimony. We have a separation of powers under the United States Constitution,” Pence said. “And I believe it would set a terrible precedent for Congress to summon a vice president of the United States to speak about the deliberations that took place in the White House.”

Mr Pence, who served as House GOP conference chairman under former Speaker John Boehner, said he was ‘closing the door’ on testifying before the committee on January 6, which he called a ‘disappointment’ .

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“It seemed to me that at the beginning there was an opportunity to look at all aspects of what happened on January 6, and to do it more in the spirit of the 9/11 Commission. , non-partisan, non-political, and it was a lost opportunity,” he said.

A swarm of pro-Trump protesters who stormed the Capitol that day approached Mr. Pence, who had not been evacuated from the Senate Chamber for nearly 14 minutes after Capitol police of the United States had reported a first attempt to break into the complex.

The Secret Service led Mr. Pence, his wife and their daughter to the ground as rioters broke into the Capitol. Some rioters were heard shouting, “Hang Mike Pence.”