Mike Pence on Wednesday did not rule out testifying before the House January 6 Committee, which has focused its inquiry on key aspects of Donald Trump‘s election overturn effort involving the former vice president.
‘I would consider it,’ Pence said at an appearance at a ‘Politics & Eggs’ event in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
His comment came hours after House Jan. 6th Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney lost her primary in Wyoming after defying Trump and voting to impeach him.
It also comes after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in search of additional classified documents after Trump returned 15 boxes of material to the government after leaving office.
That event helped drive a series of Republican officeholders to Trump’s side while blasting FBI tactics, in an event that some observers said would help the former president fend off challengers from within the party he has bent to his image.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he would ‘consider’ testifying before the House Jan. 6th Committee
The comments came at a packed event in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
He once again sought to find ways to avoid directly criticizing Trump while still pointing to a new path.
‘I came here today not to look backwards but to look forwards, because elections are about the future,’ said.
‘We need to do more than criticize and complain, we need to unite our movement around a bold, optimistic agenda that will give solutions for the American people,’ he added.
Pence aides have spent months negotiating with the committee, and several, including former chief of staff Marc Short, spoke to the panel themselves.
Pence would have a unique ability to speak about Trump’s pressure campaign to try to get him to refuse to accept votes certified by states
Other people close to Trump, including Ivanka Trump, have agreed to testify
His comments came shortly after Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney lost her primary race
Pence unstintingly praised Trump while in office, but has cited ‘differences’ between them around Jan. 6
Other witnesses testified about dramatic confrontations inside the White House where Trump advisors claimed that Pence had the authority while presiding over the counting of electoral votes Jan. 6th to unilaterally decline to accept votes certified by states that went for Joe Biden.
Pence’s comment received multiple hedges about appearing before a panel that subpoenaed many former Trump associates but has engaged in arm’s length negotiations with Pence’s team.
‘If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it. But, you’ve heard me mention the Constitution a few times this morning,’ he said. ‘Under the Constitution we have three coequal branches of government. Any invitation directed at me, I’d have to reflect on the unique role I was serving in as Vice President. It would be unprecedented in history for a VP to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill.’
Pence also once again spoke about the dramatic FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, which has drawn a series of condemnations by top Republicans.
‘It’s fairly well known that President Trump and I have had our differences,’ he said, adding that he would ‘continue to call’ for Attorney General Merrick Garland to make more information available.
The government told a court that the affidavits justifying the search should remain under seal for the protection of witnesses and its ongoing investigation. Trump has demanded its release.