Former US Vice President Mike Pence testified before a grand jury about the violent storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Pence was a witness in a federal court in the capital Washington for more than seven hours yesterday and answered questions, US media reported unanimously .
Nothing was known about the content of the investigation. The investigation aims to shed light on the role Pence’s former boss, ex-President Donald Trump, played in the day’s events. An appeals court had previously denied Trump’s request to block questioning of his former deputy. The US Department of Justice appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate the incident.
Radical supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to prevent the formal confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Five people were killed as a result.
Pence wanted to avoid questions
Pence himself had agreed to testify in early April after a judge ordered him to. In his role as Senate President, Pence presided over the House session to confirm Biden’s election victory on the day of the Capitol storm. Trump had repeatedly called on his vice president to stop confirming the election results. Pence refused at the time, saying he did not have the authority to do so.
Special counsel Smith is not only investigating Trump’s possible criminal responsibility for the attack on the Capitol. He also deals with numerous classified documents that Trump took from the White House to his private estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, at the end of his term.
And the January 6 attack investigation is one of Trump’s many legal troubles. American author Jean Carroll accused Trump of sex crimes in the mid-1990s in a civil lawsuit she filed on Wednesday. Charges have been filed against Trump in another case involving hush money payments. Trump is also under investigation for his handling of classified government documents. In the state of Georgia, the prosecutor is investigating possible attempts at election interference against Trump.
Probably another race between Biden and Trump
Trump himself describes law enforcement actions against him as politically motivated as he is running again as a presidential candidate for the 2024 election. Pence is also considered a potential rival in the race for the Republican nomination. However, the 63-year-old arch-conservative politician has not yet announced an application.
In the race for office, he accused his likely opponent, Biden, of being a “danger to democracy”. Biden had said the same about Trump on Wednesday.
However, in the race for the US presidency, a renewed duel is currently emerging between US President Joe Biden and Trump, as was the case in the last election in 2020.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
