Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to problem a subpoena issued to him by the particular counsel investigating ex-President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, an individual conversant in the matter advised CNBC on Tuesday.

Pence will argue that his former position in authorities protects him from having to adjust to particular counsel Jack Smith’s subpoena for his testimony, in accordance with the individual, who confirmed Politico’s reporting on the ex-vice president’s authorized technique.

Below the U.S. Structure, the vice chairman can also be the president of the Senate. Pence, who served in that position underneath Trump, will argue that he’s due to this fact lined by the constitutional protections given to members of the legislative department — together with a clause that protects them from authorized threats stemming from their legislative work.

A spokesman for the particular counsel declined to remark.

Pence, who is taken into account a probable 2024 presidential contender, is predicted to debate the subpoena whereas visiting the important thing main state of Iowa on Wednesday.

Smith was appointed particular counsel in November to move a felony investigation into whether or not Trump unlawfully interfered with the switch of energy after dropping to President Joe Biden within the 2020 election.

As a part of a multi-pronged effort to overturn his loss, Trump had pressured Pence to reject key Electoral Faculty votes when he presided over a joint session of Congress to substantiate Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021. After Pence refused, a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing the vice chairman and members of Congress to flee their chambers.

Trump, who by no means conceded defeat and has continued to unfold false claims of election fraud even after leaving the White Home, has repeatedly attacked Pence for missing the “braveness” to defy his obligation to substantiate Biden’s electoral victory.

The subpoena to a high-profile official like Pence, which was first reported final week, may recommend that Smith’s investigation is nearing its conclusion, Politico reported. However Pence’s forthcoming problem to the subpoena may lengthen the particular counsel’s efforts, as a result of his authorized argument is essentially unsettled within the courts.

Information of Pence’s authorized plans got here forward of his broadly anticipated White Home bid, which may pit him immediately towards his former boss within the Republican main area. Trump, who stays a de facto chief within the Republican Social gathering, has for months been the one main 2024 candidate within the race — till Tuesday morning, when former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley threw her hat within the ring.

Smith can also be investigating the lots of of categorized paperwork that have been shipped to Trump’s Palm Seaside, Fla., resort residence Mar-a-Lago, the place he has lived since his leaving the presidency. The FBI raided Trump’s residence final yr.

In latest months, Pence and Biden have each discovered supplies with categorized markings of their private residences.