Government

Mike Pence Declares Victory And Goes Home ... Via The Grand Jury

Is Mike Pence still bothering to pretend to run for president?

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penceMike Pence made his point, and now he’s going to fold.

Last week, Chief Judge James Boasberg ruled that the former vice president enjoyed Speech or Debate immunity as president of the Senate for activities undertaken on January 6, 2021, i.e. when a mob of Trump supporters shouting “Hang Mike Pence” tried to disrupt the peaceful transition of power. Pence tried to block a subpoena to testify before the federal grand jury investigating the events of that day, despite having written about them in detail in his book “So Help Me God.”

Pence’s theory was that he enjoyed legislative immunity for any and all events relating to certification of the election results, but Chief Judge Boasberg, newly in charge of privilege disputes since Judge Beryl Howell rotated out last month, declined to go that far. Although the order is sealed, it was widely reported that the court allowed immunity only insofar as pertains to the events of the day itself.

ABC‘s sources said that the court ordered the former vice president to “provide answers to special counsel Jack Smith on any questions that implicate any illegal acts on Trump’s part,” while CNN reports that Judge Boasberg only permitted him to “decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself, when he was serving as president of the Senate for the certification of the 2020 presidential election.”

This partial victory put him ahead of his former boss: Judge Boasberg wholly rejected Trump’s attempt to block Pence’s testimony on grounds of executive privilege, continuing Judge Howell’s pattern of rejecting the former president’s privilege claims. Most recently, the court ordered several of Trump’s closest White House aides to testify, including Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino. As of this writing, there is no report of his having appealed that ruling.

Last week, it was unclear if Pence would appeal the order. The issue of his Speech or Debate immunity is novel, although respected conservative Judge Michael Luttig downplayed the theory and suggested that the immunity must yield to criminal process.

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It seems likely that the Supreme Court would seek to weigh in on the issue were the issue presented to it, allowing Pence to defer his appearance until after Special Counsel Jack Smith packs up and goes home. But in the event, that won’t be necessary, since Pence says he will not be appealing Judge Boasberg’s order to the DC Circuit.

“The Court’s landmark and historic ruling affirmed for the first time in history that the Speech or Debate Clause extends to the Vice President of the United States,” Pence’s spokesman Devin O’Malley said, in a statement reported by the Washington Post. “Having vindicated that principle of the Constitution, Vice President Pence will not appeal the Judge’s ruling and will comply with the subpoena as required by law.”

Time to trot out that old “Mission Accomplished” banner en route to the grand jury to spill the tea. And prepare for the mean social media posts on Trump’s dollar store knockoff Twitter platform. Because Mike Pence will never be president, but at least he can save himself several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees by declaring victory and going home.

Pence won’t appeal ruling that compels his grand jury testimony on Jan. 6 [WaPo]

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

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