Pence says he’ll ‘tell the truth’ before Jan. 6 grand jury

Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he’ll “tell the truth” and “obey the law” when he appears, as is expected, before a federal grand jury looking into efforts by former President Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“We’ll – we’ll obey the law. We’ll tell the truth. And the story that I’ve been telling the American people all across the country, the story that I wrote in the pages of my memoir, that will – that will be what I tell in that setting as well,” Pence told Robert Costa in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

Pence’s team said earlier this month that the former vice president wouldn’t appeal a judge’s order that he testify before the grand jury about Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 election results, without having to testify about his role in Congress. 

He’d previously argued that his role as then-president of the Senate effectively made him a member of the legislative branch on Jan. 6, 2021, which would mean he was shielded from subpoena by the Constitution’s “speech and debate” clause. On the day of the riots at the U.S. Capitol, Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress to certify then-candidate Joe Biden’s 2020 win.

Asked in the interview aired Sunday whether he’s set a date with the special counsel for the appearance, Pence said his attorneys have “worked that out” with the Justice Department.

“I’m grateful that the court recognized that there are specific constitutional protections unique to the vice president when you’re serving in your role as president of the Senate,” Pence said on Sunday, adding that “they’ve limited what they’ll be requesting of me.” 

Pressed on exactly how those constraints will impact what Pence is able to testify about, the former vice president said he’s limited in what he can say about the proceedings. 

“But people can be confident that we’ll – we’ll obey the law. We’ll comply with the law,” Pence said. 

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing two separate federal investigations into Trump, one into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another into Trump’s handling of classified materials.