A federal appeals court rejected former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block his former Vice-President Mike Pence from testifying before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order late Wednesday rejecting Trump’s claim of executive privilege over Pence’s testimony, Politico reported.
The exact details of the ruling remain under seal pursuant to grand jury laws.
Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed Pence in February for documents and testimony relating to the events surrounding Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Trump can still appeal the ruling. It’s also unclear when Pence will appear before the grand jury, and when he does, the Justice Department will be limited in what it can ask him based on a ruling by Chief U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg last month.
Boasberg ruled that Pence would not be compelled to testify about his role as the president of the Senate due to the ‘speech and debate clause’ of the Constitution. However, Pence must provide testimony about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including any conversations he may have had with the former President or his aides in the weeks after the election leading up to January 6, 2021.
