Pence chief of staff testifies before Jan. 6 committee: report

Marc Short, former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, has testified before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the capitol, according to CNN.

Sources told the news organization on Monday that Short met with the committee in a lengthy session last week in response to a subpoena. 

Short previously provided a small number of documents that were subpoenaed by the committee, including a memo from Johnny McEntee, an aide to former President Trump, comparing Trump to Thomas Jefferson. 

The source also said that by rule, witnesses must hand over more documents to the committee when they testify, according to CNN. 

Short was seen as an important witness in the committee’s investigation as the panel tries to piece together how Trump and his allies attempted to convince Pence not to certify President Biden’s Electoral College victory. 

Short was with Pence at the White House on Jan. 6 and participated in the White House meeting two days prior to the deadly attack where Trump and his attorney, John Eastman, tried to convince Pence to overturn the election results, CNN reported. 

Short’s testimony comes while the committee is still unaware whether Pence will testify before the committee. 

Sources also said Pence would prefer aides like Short act as his “proxy” so Pence wouldn’t have to testify before the committee. 

In a statement on Sunday, Trump called out Pence, while also referencing his attempts to use Pence to overturn the election results. 

“Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away,” Trump said in his statement. “Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!”