Former US Vice President Calls Subpoena to Testify in Capital Riot Case 'Unconstitutional'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Former US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called his subpoena to testify in the 2021 Capitol breach case "unprecedented" and "unconstitutional."

On Tuesday, a US federal court ordered Pence to testify about his conversations with former US President Donald Trump related to the Capitol protests on January 6, 2021.

"When I received this subpoena from the Justice Department, I said that I thought it was not only unprecedented to ask a vice president to come in to court to testify, but I also thought it was unconstitutional, believing that the constitution's speech and debate protection applied to me when I served as president of the Senate on January 6," Pence told a American broadcaster.

The vice president under Trump added that the court had accepted his team's arguments and recognized that the constitution's immunity provision did apply to a vice president. However, he did not specify whether his team would appeal the court ruling.

Trump has been the subject of investigations into alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential outcome through the Capitol riot. On January 6, 2021, a crowd of protesters in Washington entered the Capitol without authorization and delayed the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results in favor of US President Joe Biden. Five people died in connection with the riot, including one police officer, and approximately 140 other law enforcement members were injured. Hundreds of individuals have been charged, and some prosecuted, with criminal offenses linked to the event. A House committee has also been established to investigate the riot.