The Jan. 6 select committee has been widely panned by Republicans as a partisan exercise, but multiple GOP lawmakers say former Vice President Mike Pence expressing an openness to testifying before the panel could provide key insight into an array of matters related to the attack on the Capitol should he decide to appear.
Pence, who faced death threats due to his decision to certify the 2020 election results and had to be evacuated to a secure location on the Capitol campus during the attack, told attendees of a Politics & Eggs breakfast in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Wednesday that “if there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it,” adding the caveat that he would have to reflect on the decision.
“It would be unprecedented in history for a vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill, but as I’ve said, I don’t wanna prejudge,” he said.
PENCE EXPRESSES OPENNESS TO TESTIFYING BEFORE JAN. 6 SELECT COMMITTEE
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, remains critical of the select committee’s handling of its investigation but argued that Pence could offer key information pertaining to security failures that led to the breach that hasn’t been detailed by other witnesses thus far.
“It would be the big whale when it comes to who can testify. Time will tell if that actually happens, but as somebody who is somebody who has been very critical of the select committee, and the fact that they have not asked the questions that I would have asked about why the security apparatus failed that day — they failed all of us that were in the Capitol, everybody around the Capitol, and also Vice President Pence. In my opinion, they need to make sure that those officers are never put in that position again,” Davis said.
“And in the end, I think, Vice President Pence’s testimony, if he decides to do it, would be very riveting because I witnessed similar instances in the House side, and to be able to come back as we did together and … finish our job, that was something that I’ll never forget. And Mike Pence is one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met in my life,” he continued.
“It would be riveting to hear what he and his family were dealing with at the time. But in the end, I still have a problem with the select committee being so partisan and so focused on just President Trump,” he added.
One former Pence aide said detailing the “pressure campaign” he personally faced from former President Donald Trump and other senior White House officials could be impactful in swaying some of the former president’s supporters’ perspectives on the deadly riot, adding they believe it could alter the current political climate and loosen Trump’s grip on the party.
“While Pence testifying likely won’t reveal significant new information the committee hasn’t already learned from Marc Short and Greg Jacob, it’d be hugely significant to have the former No. 2 to Trump tell about the pressure campaign and attack in his own words,” the source said. “If anyone’s words might break through to Trump supporters on the fence about how serious 1/6 was, it would be Mike Pence’s.”
Over the course of the public hearings that took place in recent months, Trump allies have taken aim at witnesses who appeared before the panel. Several lawmakers and the former president dismissed ex-Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony as “hearsay,” and the House Republican Conference’s Twitter account attacked former White House deputy communications director Sarah Matthews on social media, later deleting the post.
Nonetheless, multiple Republicans asserted that Pence, who some speculate may seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, remains highly regarded by conservative members, arguing it would be difficult for anyone to discredit him.
“I think he’s made a decision in his mind, probably that he’s not going to be in lockstep with Trump on this issue, and I think this is a manifestation of that. It certainly wouldn’t be a positive development for Trump because even if you don’t like Mike Pence, no one can call him disloyal or anything,” one senior GOP lawmaker said.
“I think he’s done a very good job of walking that tightrope, and I think that Pence is coming to the realization that he has to distance himself from Trump a little bit. And I think he also wants to tell the truth about Jan. 6. I mean, he came within 40 seconds of being engaged in a very violent act with him and his family. That’s — that’s something I’m sure that weighs on him,” they added.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said testimony from Pence may not change Republicans’ views of the panel, adding that he sees it as political due to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blocking two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s selections to sit on the select committee, which ultimately led the California Republican to pull all of his picks from participating. Still, Bacon lauded Pence’s character.
“I am not sure how it will change. He’s a rule-of-law guy. Kicking off Republican members made it political, but Pence is transparent and has nothing to hide,” he said.
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Others noted that if he opts to testify, the impact it has will hinge on what he has to say.
“It depends entirely on what he says, I suppose, and what evidence he has to back up his statements,” one GOP lawmaker said.
While the panel has not officially called for Trump or Pence to appear before the panel as of yet, a slew of senior administration officials and Cabinet members — including former first daughter Ivanka Trump; her husband, Jared Kushner; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — have participated in closed-door depositions.
The select committee declined to offer comment on whether it plans to extend a formal invitation to Pence.
