Former Vice President Mike Pence has indicated that he might be willing to testify before the House Jan. 6 Committee as it continues to look into the events of the incursion that occurred at the U.S. Capitol last year.
“If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it,” Pence said at New England Council and Saint Anselm College’s “Politics and Eggs” event on Wednesday morning, WMUR-TV reported.
“But you’ve heard me mention the Constitution a few times this morning. [Through] the Constitution, we have three co-equal branches of government, and any invitation that would be directed to me, I would have to reflect on the unique role that I was serving at as vice president,” he added.
The “Politics and Eggs” event at Saint Anselm College is an event held periodically and typically features high-profile politicians and figures.
Pence attended the event before, in 2019 when Trump was in the midst of his reelection campaign.
But his comments this time concerning Jan. 6 and the House committee came as a surprise to some.
“It would be unprecedented in history for a vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill,” Pence said. “But as I said, I don’t want to prejudge. If ever any formal invitation [is] rendered to us, we’d give it due consideration.”
The former vice president has previously be hesitant to share comments on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Politico reported.
Will Mike Pence be called to testify at the Jan. 6 committee?
He has even been somewhat critical of the Jan. 6 investigation and called it a distraction.
In June, Pence told Fox News that he “will not allow the Democrats” to use Jan. 6 to “distract attention from their failed agenda.”
“Jan. 6 was a tragic day, and I know we did our duty, but I will always be proud of our record,” Pence told Fox News.
“And I am not going to allow the Democrats to use that tragic day to distract attention from their failed agenda or to demean the intentions of 74 million Americans who rallied behind our cause,” he added.
But two of Pence’s top aides testified before a Washington, D.C. grand jury that is investigating efforts by the Trump administration to disrupt the peaceful transition of the presidential power.
The two aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, gave testimony that allegedly “helped form the basis of a federal judge’s assessment that Trump had likely committed multiple crimes connected to Jan. 6,” Politico reported.
Sources also told ABC News that Jan. 6 committee investigators have actually been privately speaking with Pence’s lawyers about the former vice president’s potential testimony.
But other sources close to the situation also told CNN that no one should be reading too much into Pence’s comments at the “Politics and Eggs” event on Wednesday.
What he said at Saint Anselm College was by no means a commitment to anything, and the Jan. 6 committee itself has made no comment, CNN reported.
Though he did briefly speak about the Jan. 6 events, Pence also focused the need of unification to address the needs of the America people and uphold the principles of the Constitution.
“But my first obligation is to continue to uphold my oath, continue to uphold the framework of government enshrined in the Constitution that has created the greatest nation in the history of the world,” Pence said.
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