(Indeed, vice presidents have testified before Congress, but only on rare occasions.)
In recent weeks, the panel has been debating what to do with some of the more prominent potential witnesses, such as Mr. Pence or Mr. Trump himself, and lawmakers have not reached a conclusion on how to proceed with either man.
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The group had initially believed both men would fight attempts to have them testify, and some lawmakers worried that a public battle to get them under oath would distract from the job of gathering facts about the Sept. 6 attack. January and the events leading up to it.
Representative Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, who chairs the committee, has previously said the committee rejected a subpoena for Mr. Pence, citing “significant information” he had received from two of his aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, who both sat in on the depositions. Mr. Jacob also testified live during one of the panel’s hearings in June, calling for a plan from attorney John Eastman to make Mr. Pence launches the election alone to Mr. Trump during a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021. , “certificately insane.”
Beyond speaking to the House committee, Mr. Short and Mr. Jacob appeared before a federal grand jury in Washington that is hearing testimony in the Department of Justice’s parallel investigation on January 6. The men were present in the Oval Office for a meeting. on January 4, 2021, in which Mr. Trump made Mr. Eastman tried to persuade Mr. Pence could delay or block congressional certification of Mr. Trump in the Electoral College.
While it remains unclear whether Mr. Pence will speak to the committee, if he does, he could likely give the panel a more complete picture of Mr. Trump and Mr. Eastman to push him hard to disrupt the traditional democratic process.
A spokesman for the panel declined to comment Wednesday on Mr. Pence.
Another potentially high-profile witness, Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a supporter of Mr. Trump to stay in power after the 2020 election, is still on the committee’s list of witnesses to be called, although she has declined attempts to interview her.
