Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law Democracy & Elections

Judge Unseals Documents Related to Pence Jan. 6 Subpoena

Tyler McBrien
Sunday, June 11, 2023, 1:00 PM
The redacted documents include Pence’s motion to quash the subpoena, the government’s opposition, Judge Boasberg’s opinion, and the hearing transcript. 
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On June 9, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington unsealed a ruling issued in March that compelled former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before a grand jury on the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and other efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

In February, Pence resisted the subpoena from Special Counsel Jack Smith, claiming immunity from questioning under the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution. The court held that while the clause does apply to the vice president, it did not cover “the vast majority” of what the special counsel sought to ask Pence about. After “largely” denying Pence’s motion to quash the subpoena, the former vice president testified for several hours in April.

Read Pence’s motion to quash the grand jury subpoena here or below: 

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Tyler McBrien

Tyler McBrien

TylerMcBrien
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Tyler McBrien is the managing editor of Lawfare. He previously worked as an editor with the Council on Foreign Relations and a Princeton in Africa Fellow with Equal Education in South Africa, and holds an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.

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