WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence has been ordered by a federal judge to comply with a subpoena in the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a source familiar with the decision.
The ruling by Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, requires Pence to testify before the grand jury related to the investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith.
The ruling was entered Monday but remains sealed because it involves grand jury matters. The judge’s order gave Pence a partial victory over his argument that he was shielded from having to testify around Jan. 6 because of his constitutional role as part of the legislature.
Pence’s team has argued that the Constitution’s «speech or debate clause,» which can protect lawmakers from being forced to discuss legislative activity, gave him immunity to testify. Boasberg ruled that while Pence has some limited protections because of that, the immunity does not prevent him from testifying about conversations related to Trump’s alleged «illegality.»
Trump’s legal team had separately made blanket objections to Smith’s subpoena on executive privilege grounds, claims Boasberg rejected outright on Monday.
Smith, whom Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed to lead the investigation in November, issued Pence’s subpoena in February. Pence vowed to fight it, saying «no vice president has ever been subpoenaed to testify about the president he served under.»
Pence previously said he would take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. He told ABC News this month he was not asserting executive privilege on conversations unrelated to his duties on January 6.
It is unclear if Pence plans to appeal Boasberg’s Monday ruling. Spokesmen for Pence and the Justice Department declined to comment on the judge’s ruling.
“We are evaluating the court’s decision,” Pence said in an interview with Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren, who also asked about his plans for 2024. Pence indicated he would make a decision in “the spring or early summer.”
“I hope we don’t end spring without Karen and I having a clear sense of our calling,” he said, referring to his wife. Last month, Pence told NBC News that he would make a decision «by the spring.»
Boasberg’s ruling on executive privilege marks another victory for the special counsel’s team, which convinced another federal judge earlier this month that several former Trump administration officials, including Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, Robert O’Brien , John Ratcliffe, Ken Cuccinelli and John McEntee, must also testify. Trump is expected to appeal that ruling. It was not immediately clear if he, too, plans to appeal Boasberg’s decision on Pence.
In response to the ruling, a Trump spokesperson said: «The Department of Justice is continually straying from standard norms by attempting to destroy the long-accepted, long-established, and ground-based standards of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. in the constitution».
“There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump,” the spokesperson said.
Garrett Haake, michael kosnar and zoe richards contributed.