January 6 committee chair suggests panel doesn’t need Pence’s testimony

By Ryan Nobles, Jamie Gangel and Gloria Borger, CNN

January 6 select committee Chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters Monday that he believes it will not be necessary for the panel to issue a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence and that the committee has been able to glean enough information that his testimony may not be necessary.

“There’s no effort on the part of the committee to get him to come in,” the Mississippi Democrat told CBS. “If he wants to come, we initially thought it would be important. But … we know the people who tried to get him to change his mind, about the count and all of that. So what is it we need?”

While Thompson seemed to minimize the significance of a Pence interview, two committee sources tell CNN the panel has not yet completely ruled out calling the former vice president before it either voluntarily or with a formal subpoena.

“Nothing is off the table,” a committee spokesperson told CNN.

The committee has not informed Pence’s team of any formal decision not to call the former vice president, according to a source familiar with the situation.

It was Thompson who originally revealed the committee’s desire to speak with Pence, telling CNN in January that he hoped Pence would come in on his own to provide information about what he knew about the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

“I would hope that he would do the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee,” Thompson said at the time.

While Pence has not signaled a willingness to appear himself, he has not stood in the way of some of his top deputies sitting for depositions. His chief of staff Marc Short, his chief counsel Greg Jacob and his national security adviser Keith Kellogg have all sat for lengthy interviews.

The-CNN-Wire
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