look who's (maybe) talking
Jan. 6 committee weighs interviewing Pence, Trump
With a series of hearings on the horizon, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is mulling whether to call former President Donald Trump and/or former Vice President Mike Pence, neither of whom has spoken to the panel, The Associated Press reports.
Of course, there are reasons to speak with at least one or both former leaders. For starters, "[t]he committee wants to be as thorough as possible, and critics are sure to pounce if they don't even try," writes AP. But some committee members believe they have what they need without either man.
In early April, committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the panel has been able to confirm a lot of statements attributed to both Trump and Pence without hearing from them directly. But, per AP, "there are still questions" each ex-official could answer, including what they spoke about on the morning of Jan. 6.
That said, it's unclear whether or to what extent each would even cooperate with the committee; Trump "would certainly be a hostile witness," AP posits. Not to mention that "calling a former president or vice president to testify in a congressional investigation is a rare, if not unprecedented, move that could face major legal hurdles and backfire politically," AP writes. Read more at The Associated Press.