A former aide to former Vice President Mike Pence said the Justice Department subpoenaing Pence could positively impact the former vice president’s presidential chances in 2024.
Former aide Olivia Troye said in an interview with MSNBC on Saturday that Pence will have a “security blanket” of political cover from the subpoena, which was issued on Thursday by special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing investigations into former President Donald Trump.
TRUMP LAWYERS REPORTEDLY SET TO APPEAL PENCE SUBPOENA ON EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE GROUNDS
Troye said Pence would have the opportunity to talk about “what really happened” in the lead-up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He also will be able to publicly announce that he was compelled to testify under legal requirements, silencing any dispute that he willingly testified.
“This is sort of the security blanket that I think Mike Pence has been looking for,” she said.
NBC News confirmed that Trump’s lawyers are expected to fight Pence’s subpoena on the grounds of executive privilege, which can shield certain communications within the executive branch.
Pence declined to testify in the investigation held by the House select committee last Congress about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which made recommendations to the Justice Department to bring down criminal charges against Trump and several politicians or aides close to him for their alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
Troye said Pence viewed the committee as politicized, so he is more likely to comply with Smith’s investigation.
“In some ways, it’s political advantage if DOJ takes Donald Trump out of the running, that works in Mike Pence’s favor, and I’m sure that is part of the calculus going to the Pence team right now,” she said.
Smith also subpoenaed Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, for the investigations he is overseeing, relating to both the insurrection and the classified documents found at Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago in August. Smith is requesting that Pence provide documents and testimony on the interactions he had with Trump leading up to the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Pence has previously spoken out on the 2021 riot, condemning the people that “desecrated” and “dishonored” America. The former vice president refused to send election results back to certain states and presided over the vote count to certify now-President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Supporters of Trump had threatened Pence, chanting “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the Capitol.
The day after Smith subpoenaed Pence, the FBI conducted a search of Pence’s home in Indiana to continue its efforts to recover classified documents. The search led to the discovery of another classified document.
A small number of classified documents were found in Pence’s home in early January, which Pence officials delivered to the National Archives. Pence’s lawyer Greg Jacob had written in a letter to the National Archives that the former vice president was unaware that there were classified materials at his home and that he would “cooperate fully” with any investigation.
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Pence has not yet publicly announced that he is running for president in 2024 but is among several high-profile GOP officials that are speculated to run. People are keeping an eye on former Gov. Nikki Haley (R), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as possible 2024 GOP nominees.
Trump is the only major GOP candidate to have declared his run for president.
