In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, former Vice President Mike Pence revealed his intention to abstain from testifying in special counsel Jack Smith’s legal proceedings targeting former President Donald Trump. During the interview, Pence discussed the allegations levied against Trump by Smith and touched upon his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
“Would you be willing to testify at the president’s trial if the special counsel called you to do so?” asked CNN host Dana Bash.
“Well, you know, I testified before the grand jury under a subpoena, after we got clarification from the court about protections that I have under the Constitution as the president of the Senate,” Pence replied.
“I have no plans to testify and we’ll always comply with the law. But look, I want to tell you, I don’t know what the path of this indictment will be, the president’s entitled to a presumptions of innocence, he’s entitled to make his defense in court, there actually are profound issues around this pertaining to the First Amendment, freedom of speech and the rest. I’m confident he and his lawyers will litigate all of those things,” Pence continued.
“What I want the American people to know is that President Trump was wrong then and he’s wrong now that I had no right to overturn the election and I had no right to return votes and by God’s grace I did my duty under the Constitution of the United States and I always will,” he concluded.
Trump’s lawyer John Lauro suggested to CBS News Sunday that Pence’s testimony would make him “our best witness” in Trump’s defense.
The former president was indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday for allegedly contesting the results of the 2020 election and playing a role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday and called it “persecution” against him.
