Mike Pence's announcement on Wednesday that he won’t appeal a judge’s ruling compelling him to testify before a federal grand jury in the Jan. 6 probe isn’t just bad news for former President Donald Trump.
The former vice president's apparent willingness to testify within certain parameters about alleged wrongdoing by the former president is a “potentially historic” development, according to veteran political journalist Robert Costa.
The CBS chief election and campaign correspondent, who co-authored “Peril” with Bob Woodward, said Trump could try to appeal the judge’s ruling, but Costa notes the former president’s legal team has been unsuccessful in several previous attempts to assert executive privilege in the special counsel investigation led by Jack Smith.
The move clears the way for Pence to testify about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure him ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
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It comes at at time when Pence is mulling a 2024 presidential bid that would pit him against his former boss who is the target of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s role in the insurrection.
“This Pence development today is significant and potentially historic. A former vice president is now willing, within certain specified constitutional grounds his lawyers fought to arrange, to testify about potential illegal acts by a president,” Costa tweeted.
“Trump's lawyers might try to appeal Pence's decision, but they keep losing efforts to assert exec. priv. with this grand jury. That means Pence could appear before Jan. 6 grand jury in the coming weeks to testify under oath about what exactly Trump did and said in private.”
The implications of Pence’s decision are intriguing.
“Think about what this means,” Costa said.
“The special counsel could now get a first-hand account of what Trump specifically said to Pence in Oval Office meetings ahead of Jan. 6, as long as Pence and his lawyers do not consider those conversations related to his specific constitutional role.”
\u201cThink about what this means. The special counsel could now get a first-hand account of what Trump specifically said to Pence in Oval Office meetings ahead of Jan. 6, as long as Pence and his lawyers do not consider those conversations related to his specific constitutional role.\u201d— Robert Costa (@Robert Costa) 1680724602
