Pence’s former chief counsel speaks to House January 6 committee

Greg Jacob, who served as then-Vice President Pence’s chief counsel, is the latest member of the former vice president’s team to speak with the  House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He was spotted leaving the room where the committee interviews witnesses in its investigation on Tuesday.

Jacob spoke to the committee behind closed doors for about eight and a half hours, including lunch and other breaks.

Jacob’s meeting with the committee comes a week after Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, spoke with the committee, two sources familiar with the meeting told CBS News. He could not be reached for comment.

According to The Washington Post, Jacob was with Short and Pence in the Capitol on January 6 as pro-Trump rioters overtook the building and they were forced to evacuate to a safe location within the Capitol complex.   Trump had publicly and privately pressured Pence to reject the election results in certain states won by Joe Biden, but Pence issued a statement saying he could not do so. 

Pence certified the Electoral College count at 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, January 7, more than 14 hours after the joint session began. 

A spokesman for the committee declined to comment. 

Jacob reportedly clashed with Trump attorney John Eastman over the legal authority of the vice president to overturn the election during Congress’ counting of the electoral votes. 

“The outside lawyers pushed a fallback plan positing that the Vice President could instead stop the electoral vote count Congress and refer it out to the states,” Jacobs reportedly wrote in an opinion article he decided not to publish, according to the Washington Post. “That suggestion violated several provisions of the Electoral Count Act, had no historical analog, and would deprive Congress of its historical and statutory role in vote counting decisions.”

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Former President Trump continues to incorrectly assert that Pence had the authority to reject the electoral count during Congress’ certification process, and said in a statement over the weekend that Pence “could have overturned the election.”

The committee is also looking to speak with Pence himself. Congressman Bennie Thompson, the panel’s chair, told NPR in early January that the committee could request a meeting with the former vice president by the end of the month.

Thompson told reporters in January that counsel for the two sides had been in touch. But the lawyer who had represented Pence, Richard Cullen, left his law firm in late January to join Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s office. It’s unclear who represents Pence now.

Another former Pence advisor, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, testified to the committee at length in December. Kellogg had served as Pence’s national security adviser, but was in the White House on January 6 and was at times with Trump.

Among the topics Kellogg discussed with the panel was a phone call between Trump and Pence on the morning of the attack. Kellogg recalled to investigators that Trump said something “‘like you’re not tough enough to make the call'” and had sought to persuade Pence to reject the election results. Kellogg also testified that at the close of the call, Ivanka turned to him and said, “Mike Pence is a good man,” to which he said, “Yes, he is.”

The committee has issued dozens of subpoenas, including ones to Trump’s allies, former White House officials, campaign aides and individuals involved in the planning of the rally outside the White House before the Capitol building came under siege. Two top Trump allies, Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas, and the Justice Department has charged Bannon. Both said they are following instructions from Trump, who has claimed executive privilege.  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi created the House select committee last year earlier this year to investigate the January 6 attack, when thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol as Congress counted the electoral votes, a largely ceremonial final step affirming President Biden’s victory. Lawmakers were sent fleeing amid the riot, which led to the deaths of five people and the arrests of hundreds more. Mr. Trump, who encouraged his supporters to “walk over” to the Capitol during the Stop the Steal rally, was impeached by the House one week later for inciting the riot but was later acquitted by the Senate. The panel has interviewed 400 witnesses and has obtained over 50,000 documents, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin, who sits on the committee.