Mike Pence, who served a dozen years as a member of Congress from Indiana, as well as four years as vice president under-you-know who, is entitled to the protections of the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which says that senators and representatives “shall not be questioned in any other Place” for “any Speech or Debate in either House.”
A federal judge in Washington agrees with the arguments of Pence’s lawyers, that as ceremonial president of the Senate and presiding officer for the joint session during the counting of the Electoral College votes, Pence is exempt from having to answer grand jury questions related to certification of the vote on Jan. 6, as it was part of the VP’s formal duties.
However, the judge ruled that Pence cannot be entirely shielded from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury probing the Jan. 6 sacking of the Capitol, because the murderous attack by a frenzied Trump mob was clearly not part of “any Speech or Debate in either House.”
