Pence says he would “consider” testifying before Jan. 6 committee

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former Vice President Pence said Wednesday he’d “consider” testifying before the Jan. 6 committee.
• Some of Pence’s aides have testified before the committee, but members of the panel have not asked the former VP to testify himself.
• Pence also said that attacks against the FBI “must stop” amid the surge in threats against the FBI after the Mar-a-Lago raid.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he would consider testifying before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

In June, Pence’s aides told the panel that former President Donald Trump pressured the then-vice president to overturn the 2020 election results. 

Pence asserted that he believes Trump was mistaken to believe the vice president had the power to reverse the outcome of the election. The 2020 election results were being certified by Pence and lawmakers when Trump supporters attacked the Capitol.

One of Pence’s senior aides, Marc Short, testified before a federal grand jury probing the attack. Members of the Jan. 6 committee said in June they were considering to invite Pence to testify but has not publicly extended an invitation.

In an event in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Pence said he would give any invitation to testify “due consideration.”

“Any invitation that would be directed to me, I would have to reflect on the unique role I was serving in as vice president,” Pence told people gathered for a “Politics & Eggs” breakfast at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College.

“It would be unprecedented in history for a vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill … But as I said, I don’t want to prejudge.”

Pence also said that attacks against the FBI “must stop” amid a surge in threats to federal law enforcement after the FBI search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

 “We can hold the attorney general accountable for the decision he made without attacking the rank-and-file law enforcement personnel at the FBI,” Pence said.

“The Republican Party is the party of law and order,” he continued, adding that “Our party stands with the men and women who stand on the thin blue line at the federal and state and local level, and these attacks on the FBI must stop. Calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police.”

Pence stated that he would urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to release additional information related to the search.

“This unprecedented action does demand unprecedented transparency,” he said.

Source: Axios