“Look, he played a key role on Jan. 6. If he had succumbed to the pressure Donald Trump put on him, we would have been in a much worse constitutional crisis,” Wyoming said. A state Republican said. “And I think he clearly has concerns about executive privilege, as he has expressed. I respect that very much. I think it’s an issue above.”
Cheney acknowledged concerns about executive privilege raised by Pence, but believes that “anyone with information has a duty to move forward when the country has gone through something this dire.” To do. ”
When asked if Pence would sit on the committee in September, Cheney said, “He understands how important it is for Americans to know all aspects of the truth about what happened that day.” I hope you will,” he said.
The former Vice President believes much of the information relevant to his January 6 experience has already been provided to the Commission. That’s because, according to sources with knowledge of Pence’s thinking, his former Chief of Staff Mark Short and attorney Greg Jacob have fully testified. previously told CNN.
Speaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Political Science on Wednesday, Pence said, “Under the Constitution, there are three equal branches of government, and if I am invited, I must reflect on the unique roles I have served. Yes, it’s unprecedented in history for a Vice President to be subpoenaed to testify before the Capitol as Vice President. .”
Pence said it was “unprecedented” for a vice president to be asked to testify before the Capitol, but the president and vice president have testified before Congress in the past.
Cheney said he had not seen Pence’s comments earlier this week, but that it “looks pretty similar to what his lawyer said.” She said the committee and Pence’s attorneys are having ongoing discussions.
Cheney’s comments are the first time the committee has considered them since Pence’s latest remarks, but they are not the first time panel members have said they are discussing them with Pence’s legal team.
Democratic Rep. Benny Thompson, chairman of the committee, told reporters on June 23: proceed with work. ”
In an interview in June, Thompson said, “At this point, at the hearings we had, I think we did a good job of talking about what happened.
Cheney on Friday did not directly answer whether the committee would ask Trump to testify. “I don’t want to announce it this morning, so let’s just leave it at that,” she said.
But when asked again if that possibility remained, Cheney told ABC: As I said at the first or second hearing, his interactions with our committee are under oath.
CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnn.com
