Former Vice President Mike Pence told CBS News that he is “closing the door” on testifying before the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6, putting an end to the question of whether he would agree to speak with the committee before it wraps its investigation.
“I am closing the door on that, but I must say again, the partisan nature of the Jan. 6 committee has been a disappointment to me,” Pence said.
Pence criticized the makeup of the committee, ignoring the fact that Republicans rejected earlier opportunities to form the panel in a more bipartisan fashion, but acknowledged that he did not stand in the way of members of his senior staff, including his chief of staff Marc Short, from testifying in front of the panel.
“It’s inconceivable to me that one party would appoint every member of a committee in Congress that’s antithetical to the whole idea of the committee system,” Pence said.
“That being said, I never stood in the way of senior members of my team cooperating with the committee and testifying. But Congress has no right to my testimony,” Pence said.
He continued, “We have a separation of powers under the Constitution of the United States. And I believe it would establish a terrible precedent for the Congress to summon a Vice President of the United States to speak about deliberations that took place at the White House.”
Pence said even though he does not want to testify before the committee, he would continue to share his story about what happened on Jan. 6 in his book and he will “continue to speak openly about it.”
CNN has previously reported that Pence’s legal counsel had been in communication with the committee about whether he would testify. Over the summer, the panel dedicated an entire hearing to the pressure campaign Pence faced in the lead-up to Capitol attack, which included testimony from some of his top aides.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the committee, was quick to criticize Pence’s decision not to testify.
“Hey Pence, do you like Democracy or nah? Did trump break the law or nah? Pick a lane and a position. You will fail to please everyone” Kinzinger tweeted.
Pence will participate in a CNN town hall airing at 9:00 p.m. ET tonight.
