There is likely no better witness to Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 election than Mike Pence.
While the former vice president managed to avoid an appearance before a House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, Pence is now confronting a potentially fraught political path in the form of a subpoena from the Justice Department’s special counsel overseeing criminal investigations involving Trump, including the former president’s efforts to block the transfer of power.
And one of the most striking of Trump’s attempts to subvert the election played out in a heated telephone call on the morning of Jan. 6, when the then-president berated his vice president as a “wimp” if he didn’t act to decertify President Joe Biden’s election.
The former vice president is the most senior member of the Trump administration to receive a subpoena.
The subpoena represents the most aggressive known action taken by special counsel Jack Smith since his November appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
It was not immediately clear whether Pence would comply with the summons or if Trump would assert executive privilege in an attempt to block Pence from testifying.
The prospect of providing testimony in a criminal case comes at a sensitive time for Pence: He is considering a 2024 presidential run of his own, pitting himself against his former boss.
Trump and allies have continued to assail Pence for his refusal to toss out electoral votes that favored Biden.
Pence has said Trump was "wrong" to think that the vice president could essentially decide the election, but he has downplayed his criticism of the former president.
Investigators have long regarded Pence as a key witness in their case against Trump for fomenting the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.