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January 6 Mike Pence The Trump Adminstration

Adam Schiff Has The Perfect Clapback When Mike Pence Refuses To Comply With A DOJ Subpoena

Former Vice President Mike Pence has decided that he will not comply with a subpoena from Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating efforts by ex-president Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

CNN reports that Pence will say the subpoena cannot be enforced because he was president of the Senate and is therefore immune from questions about his official duties in that capacity.

Pence is expected to address the subpoena and his response to it during a trip to Iowa on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with his plans. His decision to fight the subpoena comes as the former vice president is mulling a 2024 presidential bid.

Pence has been subpoenaed by Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Trump and his role in January 6, 2021, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Smith’s office is seeking documents and testimony, the source said. Investigators want the former vice president to testify about his interactions with Trump leading up to the 2020 election and the day of the attack on the US Capitol.

What Pence is actually doing, however, is trying to have it both ways. He wants to pretend that he has scruples while at the same time refusing to say anything that might harm his former political patron, the disgraced former president who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Pence is also expected to be a contender for the Republican nomination, though he has yet to announce his intentions.

Dennis Aftergut and Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe put Pence’s refusal to comply with the special counsel’s subpoena this way:

His purpose is transparent. It’s not to protect our legal institutions but to protect himself and his ambition to run for the White House. He knows that courts have consistently shot down claims of separation of powers and executive privilege in the context of attempts by Trump to shield his role in Jan. 6 and the events leading up to it. So Pence now makes a novel, if legally frivolous claim.


But by far the best response to what Pence is expected to do came from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who noted:

“Pence is now claiming the Speech and Debate Clause — meant for senators and members — allows him to avoid testifying about Jan 6.

“Just shows the lengths Pence will go to avoid doing his duty and telling the truth.

“What a way to launch a presidential campaign.”

 

By Andrew Bradford

Proud progressive journalist and political adviser living behind enemy lines in Red America.

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