Former Vice President Mike Pence's lawyers must feel good. This week, it was reported that Pence plans to resist a subpoena from the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The defense his lawyers have crafted for Pence's defiance is novel, at first glance credible and, ultimately, a little too clever by half.
Trump's lawyers have reportedly been preparing to fight the Pence subpoena by invoking executive privilege, and I'd assumed that Pence would do the same if he opted not to cooperate. But Pence is arguing that he can't testify because he was performing his job as president of the Senate on Jan. 6. As an officer of the Senate, he was protected under the "speech or debate" clause of the Constitution, the argument continues. That clause in Article I, Section 6, says that "for any Speech or Debate in either House," senators and representatives "shall not be questioned in any other Place." This is a preview of Hayes Brown's latest article. Read their full column here. |
