Former Vice President Mike Pence has a "moral obligation" to give testimony to special counsel Jack Smith about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, The Washington Post editorial board stated Wednesday.
"Mr. Pence performed his constitutional duty on Jan. 6, 2021, when he resisted pressure from President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election," wrote the board. "Now, he has a duty to tell investigators what he knows about the former president’s machinations to stay in power, which triggered an assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Some of them were chanting: 'Hang Mike Pence.'"
Pence previously refused to give an interview to the House January 6 Committee, claiming that as an executive branch official, Congress had "no right" to compel testimony relating to his job. Now that Smith is subpoenaing his testimony, Pence is making the opposite argument, saying that in his capacity as former President of the Senate, the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution shields his official actions in that chamber from subpoena.
"We withhold judgment on the substantive merits of Mr. Pence’s untested but far-reaching legal theory that, as a former president of the Senate, he’s covered by a provision in Article I of the Constitution, whose original intent was to protect legislators from harassment by the executive," wrote the board.
However, "The political rationale for defying this subpoena is clearer than the legal one. Mr. Pence, who stumped on Wednesday in Iowa and Minnesota ahead of a likely 2024 bid against Mr. Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, might fear that cooperating with prosecutors could permanently alienate Mr. Trump’s supporters."
Pence needs to put aside those concerns and find the courage he showed on January 6, the board concluded.
"Mr. Pence noted Wednesday that he has 'spoken and written extensively' about what happened over the past two years. 'I have nothing to hide,' he said," the board wrote. "We believe him. That’s what makes his refusal to cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation so disappointing."
