Former Vice President Mike Pence and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien have been subpoenaed in the special counsel investigations of Donald Trump and his allies.
(Bloomberg) — Former Vice President Mike Pence and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien have been subpoenaed in the special counsel investigations of Donald Trump and his allies.
Pence’s subpoena for documents and testimony came after months of negotiations between his legal team and federal prosecutors working with Special Counsel Jack Smith, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A spokesman for Pence declined to comment on Thursday evening. The special counsel’s office declined to comment when asked if Pence had been subpoenaed.
Smith is investigating efforts by Trump and others to overturn the 2020 presidential election as well as the discovery of classified documents that were found at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Separately, the FBI on Friday searched Pence’s home in Indiana for additional classified documents that he told officials he discovered last month. The search Friday was unrelated to the subpoena, a person familiar with the matter said.
Pence is weighing a presidential run in 2024, which would put him in direct competition with Trump.
While Pence touts the achievements of the “Trump-Pence” administration when meeting with donors and potential voters, he breaks with Trump publicly over the former president’s efforts to overturn the election and such things as Trump’s meetings with White supremacists and antisemites.
Trump in turn has never absolved Pence for refusing to reject Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, just before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
O’Brien received two subpoenas asking for testimony and documents relating to the two separate inquiries of the former president, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named to discuss non-public information.
The O’Brien subpoena was first reported by CNN. The Pence subpoena was first reported by ABC.
After the US Capitol attack, O’Brien considered resigning from the administration but stayed on. His agency may also have been involved with the handling of classified documents at the White House.
A lawyer for O’Brien did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
–With assistance from Mark Niquette.
(Updates attribution in second paragraph, adds details of documents search in fifth)
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