Pence: If Called to Testify in Trump Case, Here's What I'll Do

Former VP says he'll comply with the law, tell the truth
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 7, 2023 12:30 AM CDT
Pence: If Called to Testify in Trump Case, Here's What I'll Do
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) "Night to Honor Israel," during the CUFI Summit 2023, July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Va., at the Crystal Gateway Marriott.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

What will Mike Pence do if called to testify in the case against former President Trump for alleged election interference? "I have no plans to testify, but, look, we'll always comply with the law," he said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday on State of the Union. "But," he added, "I don't know what the path of this indictment will be." The former vice president, who testified before the federal grand jury investigating the case in April, said "we'll respond to the call of the law if it comes and we'll just tell the truth."

He also said that Trump, whose lawyers have signaled they will argue the First Amendment protects the former president, is "entitled to a presumption of innocence. He's entitled to make his defense in court. But actually there are profound issues around this, pertaining to the First Amendment, freedom of speech and the rest. I'm confident he and his lawyer will litigate all those things." Trump, in a post Saturday on Truth Social, accused Pence of having "gone to the dark side," the Hill reports.

Pence said, regarding Trump asking him to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress gathered to certify the Electoral College results, "The American people deserve to know that President Trump asked me to put him over my oath to the Constitution, but I kept my oath and I always will. And I'm running for president in part because I think anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. I mean, our Constitution is more important than any one man. Our country is more important than any one man's career." For his part, Trump said in his Truth Social post that Pence is "delusional" on this point and that Trump "never" told Pence to put Trump above the Constitution. (He also claimed he never told Pence the VP was "too honest.")

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