Justice Department investigators need to confer with former Vice President Mike Pence as a part of the department’s probe into the events leading as much as the Jan. 6 capitol riot, based on a report.
A minimum of one investigator, Thomas Windom, has reached out to Pence’s team in recent weeks in search of to query Pence regarding former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election, the Recent York Times reported on Wednesday.
The previous vice chairman is reportedly amenable to considering the DOJ’s request and was contacted prior to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel answerable for the department’s two separate investigations into Trump.
The previous commander-in-chief is being probed by the DOJ for his handling of sensitive White House documents after his presidency and for the Jan. 6 riot.
The DOJ’s investigation into Jan. 6 can be separate from the House Jan. 6 committee’s probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election. Pence, based on the report, views the Justice Department inquiry in another way from the House one since it is a criminal investigation.
Pence said last week that he’s “closing the door” on the prospect of appearing before the House panel attributable to what he called the “partisan nature” of the committee.
“I’m closing the door on that,” Pence said in an interview with CBS News last week.
“But I have to say again, the partisan nature of the January 6 committee has been a disappointment to me,” he added. “It appeared to me at first, there was a chance to look at every aspect of what happened on January 6, and to achieve this more within the spirit of the 9/11 Commission, nonpartisan, nonpolitical, and that was a chance lost.”
Trump could slow the means of getting Pence to sit down down with federal investigators by invoking executive privilege to stop or limit his testimony. The previous president asserted executive privilege earlier this yr in a failed effort to attempt to stop two former Pence aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, from testifying in grand jury interviews related to the investigation.
Pence has been outspoken concerning the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as he makes rounds within the media promoting his recent book, “So Help Me God.”
The previous vice chairman has accused Trump of being “reckless” on the day his supporters stormed the Capitol Constructing after he held a rally protesting the 2020 election results. Pence was on the Capitol on Jan. 6 leading procedures to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
“The president’s words were reckless and his actions were reckless,” Pence told ABC’s David Muir earlier this month.
“The president’s words that day on the rally endangered me and my family and everybody on the Capitol constructing,” Pence, who was along with his daughter on Jan. 6, added.
The federal government’s discussions with Pence about sitting for an interview are within the early stages, based on the Recent York Times. Pence has not been subpoenaed and the method may take months if Trump invokes executive privilege.
A spokesperson for Pence declined The Post’s request for comment.