WASHINGTON: Multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday that a US judge has ordered former vice president Mike Pence to testify about his conversations with Donald Trump prior to the 2021 assault on the Capitol.
According to reports, Chief Judge James Boasberg of Washington ruled that Pence should be required to answer questions from a federal grand jury about whether the then-president was a criminal.
However, the reports stated that Pence could choose not to discuss his actions on the day of the insurrection itself because he was serving as president of the Senate for the purpose of certifying the election.
The Justice Department's investigation into the insurrection, which was linked to several deaths, left more than 100 police officers wounded, and resulted in more than 1,000 arrests, is marked by the ruling, which is still sealed.
Pence indicated that he might run against Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024, when he is running for the presidency once more.
As part of a larger alleged effort to cling to power following his defeat in the presidential election to Joe Biden, investigators are looking into Trump's role in provoking the violence on January 6, 2021.
Both Pence and the public authority's semi free examiner, Exceptional Advice Jack Smith, can challenge the pieces of the choice that didn't go in support of themselves.
Neither has reported whether they plan to pursue, in spite of the fact that Pence has recently promised to battle his calls the entire way to the High Court if fundamental.
Since Pence refused to support Trump's efforts to overturn the election, the two men have been at odds. Pence was forced to flee when a section of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol demanded that he be hanged.
In his memoir "So Help Me God," which came out last year, Pence has already talked about a lot of the important conversations he had with Trump. However, he didn't want to testify in front of a House committee that was looking into the uprising.
He had unsuccessfully argued that the "Speech or Debate" clause of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress from legal proceedings that are specifically related to their work, allowed him to avoid giving evidence.
Additionally, the judge rejected Trump's claim of executive privilege, which prevents aides from having to testify about specific conversations with presidents.
Both Trump's and Pence's offices did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
In the race to become the Republican nominee for president in 2024, Trump is clearly the front-runner.
However, there are a number of legal issues that could put him in trouble, such as a separate federal investigation into how he handled classified documents, as well as investigations into election interference in Georgia and a hush money payment in New York.
He says that he did nothing wrong and that he was the target of a "witch hunt" with multiple facets.