Lawyers for Mike Pence formally filed a motion Monday asking a federal judge to block a lawful Dept. of Justice subpoena ordering the former Vice President to give sworn testimony in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump.
Just days earlier Pence declared on Twitter: “Speak boldly and truthfully and have faith that the American people will respond to leadership. Be men and women of courage. If you hold the banner of freedom, limited government, and traditional values high, the American people will rally to your side!”
As Indiana Governor, Mike Pence was largely seen as “unpopular,” especially after his disastrous decision to sign into law a nationally-opposed pro-discrimination bill that targeted the LGBTQ community. He was rescued from a very possible re-election defeat in July of 2016, when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump chose him to be his vice-presidential running mate. One CNN report was headlined, “Indiana GOP to Trump: Take Mike Pence, please,” as papers noted Pence was just four percentage points ahead of his Democrat opponent – in a poll with a four-point margin of error.
Pence, still unpopular, now faces another political decision: run against his former boss, Donald Trump, for the Republican 2024 nomination for president, or possibly end his political career at the age of 63.
It’s no surprise that willfully testifying against Trump in the Dept. of Justice’s probe against the ex-president’s possibly unlawful actions surrounding the January 6 insurrection would be a non-starter for any pro-Trump super-MAGA supporter who might be thinking about moving to Pence’s camp. And it would absolutely paint a target on Pence’s back from Trump himself – who has also, separately, asked a judge to block the subpoena.
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Last month Pence told NBC News, “I’m confident we’ll have better choices” than Trump. “I think by the spring our family expects to have a very clear sense of our calling.”
Nearly one month ago Pence was subpoenaed by the special counsel, Jack Smith, after months of refusing to voluntarily provide testimony. He’s waited until now to file a request for it to be blocked.
“It is hard, in my view, to say you are the grown-up in the room and in favor of law and order if you refuse DOJ subpoenas,” a former Trump administration official told Yahoo News in early February, after the subpoena was reported. “Though, in the end, he still has no hope in 2024.”
One Twitter user responded to Pence’s tweet in which the former VP preaches that Americans should “Speak boldly and truthfully and have faith that the American people will respond to leadership,” by saying, “… unless you’re subpoenaed.”