Government

Trump Begs Appeals Court To Block Pence Testimony To Jan. 6 Grand Jury

Eleventh time's a charm.

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Donald Trump yelling

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Last night, Donald Trump filed an appeal of US District Judge James Boasberg’s order for Mike Pence to testify to the grand jury investigating the Capitol Riot.

True to form, the former president’s lawyers took their time moseying over to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, waiting almost two weeks after Judge James Boasberg rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege regarding conversations with the former vice president. Judge Boasberg was slightly more receptive to Pence’s claims of Speech or Debate immunity for actions taken on January 6, 2021 in his role as president of the senate, but is reported to have ordered Pence to discuss any possible criminal conduct by the former president with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury.

Last week Pence announced that he would not be appealing that order, which likely prompted Team Trump to finally creak into action. Twice now Trump has filed an emergency request for a stay after close of business, only to have the judicial panel order both sides to brief the case over night and then reject the privilege claims the next day.

At 8:14pm on March 21, Judges Pan, Pillard, and Childs gave Trump until midnight to make their case that Judge Beryl Howell’s abrogation of attorney-client privilege under the crime-fraud exception for lawyer Evan Corcoran should be stayed, ordering a response from the DOJ by 6am. At 3:16pm, the panel refused to issue the stay, and Corcoran testified in short order.

Similarly, on April 3 at 11:18pm, Judges Millett, Wilkins, and Katsas ordered briefing, and disposed of Trump’s privilege claims for several aides, including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. And indeed Bloomberg’s Zoe Tillman spotted Miller going into the federal courthouse in DC today.

In short, Trump’s privilege claims appear to have gotten a chilly reception at the appeals court, even from his own appointees. But the night is young, and perhaps he’ll hit the jackpot with the panel this time. Meanwhile, his spokesman Stephen Cheung continues to fulminate, telling Politico, “The Special Counsel is conducting a witch-hunt where the government has sought to violate every Constitutional norm, including the safeguards that protect a President’s ability to confer with his Vice President on matters of the security of the United States.”

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Yeah, yeah. See you at midnight, buddy.

In re Sealed Case [Docket via Court Listener]

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics and appears on the Opening Arguments podcast.

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