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As youve probably heard by now, Donald Trump is in a whole lot of legal peril. For starters, hes currently on trial for rape, having been accused by writer E. Jean Carroll of attacking her in a New York department store in the mid-90s. Then there are the 34 class E felonies he was charged with by the Manhattan district attorneys office last month, stemming from various hush money payments he allegedly made in the lead up to the 2016 election. But of course, thats not all. The ex-president is also under investigation by the Fulton County district attorneys office for trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia; hes been sued by the New York attorney generals office on allegations of massive fraud; and a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department is running a pair of criminal probes into both his handling of classified documents (and possible obstruction) and plot to stay in power following his loss to Joe Biden (plus the insurrection that followed). And the former guy is unlikely to be thrilled about the latest development in the DOJs election investigation.

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CNN reports that special counsel Jack Smith sat in on the federal grand jury proceeding while former vice president Mike Pencetestified for more than five hours last week, according to a trio of people familiar with the matter. As the outlet notes, the former VPs testimony is likely to elicit a strong negative reaction from Trumpand not just because Trump is prone to massive outbursts over the smallest of perceived slights.

As a reminder, the ex-president has expended significant time and energy trying to block Pence from testifying about January 6 and the weeks leading up to the attack on the US Capitol; last month, his attorneys reportedly tried (and failed) toreverse a judgesorderforPence to appear before a federal grand jury. (For his part, Pence spent the two-plus years since January 6, 2021,refusingto tell investigatorswhat he knew about the insurrection and the days that preceded it, and then, in April,his adviser announcedthat he would not appeal the latest ruling ordering him to comply with the special counselsubpoena for testimony.) Trumps desire to block Pence from speaking likely has something to do with the former VPs unique insights into his attempt to stay in power and the lengths he went to steal a second term. Those insights include but are not limited to: the fact that Trump reportedly spent weeks pressuring Pence to overturn the 2020 election,even after being told it was illegal; told Pence, You can be a patriot or you can be a pussy; told Pence, in the days before January 6, that hundreds of thousands of people were going to hate him for being too honest to overturn the results of the election; and inspired his supporters to go after Pence by telling them at the Stop the Steal rally that the then VP had the power to blockJoe Bidens win, which resulted in chants of Hang Mike Pence and a situation wherein the Secret Service had tomove Penceand his family to a secure location, lest the rioters make good on their threats.

After Pence said in March that his old boss was wrong to demand he overturn the results of the election andin his most strongly worded remarks to do datedeclared that history will holdDonald Trumpaccountable, Trump flew off the handle and blamed Pence for January 6,saying: Had [Pence] sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldnt have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways, you can blame him for Jan. 6. Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, number one, you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldnt have had Jan. 6 as we call it.

It was a claim so divorced from reality that even the gang at Fox News couldnt believe it.

So, yeah, Pence (and Smith) can probably expect that a strong negative reaction is forthcoming.

Every single point here is true (and yet)

Well, this seems suboptimal for democracy

Nothing to see here, just a former Tucker Carlson producer claiming that the erstwhile Fox News host thought he could play a role in deciding whom our Speaker of the House would be

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Read more:
That Sound You Hear Is Donald Trump Popping a Blood Vessel Over Mike Pences Jan. 6 Grand Jury Testimony - Vanity Fair