Mike Pence Subpoenaed Over Probes Into Trump Mishandling Of Documents, Attempt To Overturn Election

A pair of probes into former President Donald Trump's potential mishandling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have potentially escalated into more advanced investigations, following the special counsel reaching out to former Vice President Mike Pence with a subpoena.

According to ABC News, Jack Smith, who was appointed as special counsel in the probes in November, has requested documents and testimony from Pence in relation to the attempts made by both the former President and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which culminated in a mob of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol Building in the deadly Jan. 6 attack to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's win.

It's unclear if the former vice president, who has distanced himself from his former boss since their time in office ended, will invoke similar claims of executive privilege made by Trump and others when it comes to the various probes, or if he will cooperate fully. Any move Pence makes could be tricky as he reportedly mulls a bid for the Presidency himself in 2024. Invoking executive privilege and refusing to cooperate could lead potential competitors and Democrats to paint him still as a Trump loyalist and not a serious candidate, while full cooperation with probes into Trump, who already announced his 2024 candidacy, could earn him more ire from the former President and his staunchest supporters.

He had previously declined attempts to be interviewed by the House select committee that investigated the insurrection.

Pence's subpoena also comes after he published his memoir, "So Help Me God," in November, which detailed some of the interactions he had with the former President during the days after his election loss and the attempts the overthrow the results. According to CNN, both the former Vice President and his team were aware that publishing the book would potentially lead the Justice Department to seek more information about those moments as it continued its criminal investigation into the matter.

It is unclear if Pence will be further subpoenaed over the probe into Trump's mishandling of classified documents, which he took to his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House and refused to turn over, leading to an FBI raid on the property to recover them. Since then, Biden has also been the subject of classified document probes as some were discovered in his own former offices and residence, while Pence was also caught up in a probe after documents were found in his Indiana home as well. Unlike Trump, however, both Biden and Pence voluntarily surrendered documents after they were found.