Former US vice president Mike Pence said he has “no plans” to testify in his ex-boss Donald Trump’s trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential elections yet he did not rule it out either.
On Sunday, during an interview with CBS‘ Face the Nation, when he was asked whether he would be a witness against Donald Trump if his election case goes to trial, Pence replied that he had “no plans” to testify, but did not rule it out.
“But people can be confident we’ll obey the law, we’ll respond to the call of law if it comes, and we’ll just tell the truth,” said Pence, who is running against Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest.
On August 1, after a four-count, 45-page Justice Department indictment accused the former president of illegally attempting to retain power after losing the 2020 election to current US President Joe Biden, Pence became a key figure in Trump’s most recent criminal allegations.
On August 3, Trump entered a not-guilty plea to every accusation.
According to Reuters, Pence presided over the events in his ceremonial capacity as the US Senate’s president in the days leading up to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in Congress on January 6, 2021.
Trump put a lot of pressure on him to reverse the decision, but he resisted. Some Trump supporters shouted who rioted at the US Capitol, “Hang Mike Pence!”
The incessant pressure, and the “contemporaneous notes” Pence took in the run to the January 6, 2021 riot, are frequently cited in last week’s indictment.
At one point, the indictment refers to a January 1, 2021 phone call during which Trump berated Pence for not participating in the scheme to overturn the election result.
“You’re too honest,” Trump told Pence.
Pence’s potential testimony and his notes could become key parts of the prosecution case against Trump at trial.
For the first time in the primary campaign, Trump attacked Pence on Saturday. He denied he called him “too honest”, described him as “delusional”, and called him “‘Liddle’ Mike Pence”.
Pence’s presidential campaign has failed to take off so far, and he even risks not making the first Republican presidential debate later this month because of a lack of donors.
He is stuck in low single digits while Trump has become the runaway frontrunner, his poll numbers boosted each time he gets indicted.
Donald Trump, who has been indicted three times this year and has pleaded not guilty in two other criminal cases, faces federal charges in Miami for allegedly retaining classified documents after leaving office and obstructing justice.
Additionally, New York state charges him in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump could face a fourth indictment this week in Georgia, related to his efforts to overturn his defeat in the battleground state after the 2020 election.
Pence took on his former boss more forcefully last week, accusing him of surrounding himself with “crackpot” lawyers after his 2020 defeat.
Pence’s campaign has sought to profit from Trump’s indictment. Last week they began selling hats and T-shirts with a “Too Honest” logo.
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