Pence’s potential testimony could shed light on issues surrounding the former vice president’s interaction with the Secret Service during the Capitol riot and in particular suggestions that Pence believed there was a coup attempt.
Kinzinger, one of two Republicans sitting on the committee, told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the select committee is considering asking Pence to appear before them for an interview.
As a major figure in former President Donald Trump’s administration, Pence could provide key answers on a number of questions concerning January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Pence was present at the U.S. Capitol when the riot began and he may be able to answer lingering questions about the role his Secret Service detail played on the day.
During the riot, Pence refused to get into an armored limousine manned by Secret Service agents and he has so far offered no explanation about that decision.
In April, Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who sits on the select committee, suggested that Pence had refused to get into the vehicle because he felt it was part of an attempted coup.
“He knew exactly what this inside coup they had planned for was going to do,” Raskin said. “It was a coup directed by the president against the vice president and against the Congress.”
Some have theorized that the intention of Pence’s Secret Service detail was to drive the then vice president away from the Capitol in order to prevent him from carrying out his role in certifying the 2020 Electoral College votes.
This theory has not been proven but it is highly likely Pence will be asked about his interactions with the Secret Service if he appears before the committee.
Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, and chief legal counsel, Greg Jacob, have already appeared before the committee.
Trump had publicly pressured Pence to intervene on January 6 and prevent the certification of Electoral College votes in order to kick the election back to the states in the hope that then president’s defeat could be reversed.
Pence refused to do so and following the riot, he fulfilled his largely ceremonial constitutional role by overseeing the certification of slates of electors.
While Pence has distanced himself from Trump and his false claims about the 2020 election, he has not spoken publicly about efforts to overturn the election or how he was treated by Trump in the closing days of the administration.
If Pence appears, the committee is likely to grill him on a wide variety of matters, including claims from a former White House aide that Trump approved of those chanting “Hang Mike Pence” on January 6.
