Pence does not rule out testifying against Trump in 2020 election case
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence didn’t rule out testifying in opposition to Former President Donald Trump in his criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Pence told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday he at present has no plans to testify in opposition to Trump however mentioned “we’ll reply to the decision of the legislation.”
“I’ve no plans to testify, however individuals might be assured we’ll obey the legislation. We’ll reply to the decision of the legislation, if it comes and we’ll simply inform the reality,” Pence mentioned.
The 45-page indictment handed down final week laid out four charges against Trump: conspiracy to defraud the USA, conspiracy to impede an official continuing, obstruction of and try to impede an official continuing and conspiracy in opposition to rights. Trump’s stress marketing campaign on Pence to overturn the election is a central strategy to prosecutors’ allegations Trump illegally tried to reverse his loss.
Pence could be a key figure in Trump’s case because it strikes by way of the authorized course of. The indictment mentions contemporaneous notes Pence took throughout key conferences and telephone calls as Trump and his allies pressured him to reject electoral votes following the 2020 presidential election.
“There was occasionally, notably at necessary moments, I had a observe of scribbling a word or two on my calendar simply to memorialize it and bear in mind it and I did that on this case,” Pence mentioned, confirming he took notes within the lead as much as Jan. 6, 2021.
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Amongst among the particulars within the indictment was an occasion the place Trump chastised his second-in-command as “too sincere.” For the reason that unsealing of the indictment, Pence, considered one of many 2024 Republican presidential main hopefuls, has become a more forceful voice against Trump.
On the marketing campaign path, Pence has taken Trump’s “sincere” remark in stride.
“I’ve been referred to as worse,” Pence mentioned. “So I’m by no means offended by individuals calling me an sincere man. And I all the time aspire to that and aspire to that in my religion.”
Trump’s perception Pence may overturn the election was a “reckless assertion,” Pence advised reporters following the indictment. The previous vp additionally referred to as Trump’s authorized crew a “gaggle of crackpot legal professionals.”
Trump has taken discover of Pence’s extra outspoken criticism, deriding him for being “newly emboldened” and going “to the Darkish Facet,” on his social media platform, Fact Social.
Pence, who has brushed off Trump’s jabs before, reiterated Sunday he had no authority to overturn the 2020 election.
“I am working for president partly as a result of, frankly, President Trump requested me to place him over the Structure that day, however I selected the Structure and I all the time will,” Pence mentioned.
