Pence Testifies Before Trump Grand Jury

Former vice president spent hours in the DC courthouse
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 27, 2023 12:30 AM CDT
Updated Apr 27, 2023 6:55 PM CDT
Trump's Effort to Block Pence Testimony Rejected
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Federalist Society Executive Branch Review conference, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
UPDATE Apr 27, 2023 6:55 PM CDT

Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and former President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. People who have knowledge of the appearance but who weren't authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed it to Politico. Pence was spirited into the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, without being caught by cameras, and spent more than five hours in the building.

Apr 27, 2023 12:30 AM CDT

A federal appeals court on Wednesday night moved former Vice President Mike Pence closer to appearing before a grand jury investigating efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, rejecting a bid by former President Donald Trump's lawyers to block the testimony, the AP reports. It was not immediately clear what day Pence might appear before the grand jury, which for months has been investigating the events preceding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol and efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the election outcome.

But Pence's testimony, coming as he moves closer to entering the 2024 presidential race, would be a milestone moment in the investigation and would likely give prosecutors a key first-person account as they press forward with their inquiry. The order from the three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals was sealed and none of the parties are mentioned by name in online court records. But the appeal in the sealed case was filed just days after a lower-court judge had directed Pence to testify over objections from the Trump team. A lawyer for Pence did not immediately return an email seeking comment, and a spokesman for the Justice Department special counsel leading the investigation declined to comment.

(More Mike Pence stories.)

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