Laura Jarrett is a senior legal correspondent for NBC News.
Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to comply with a grand jury subpoena about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a source familiar with the ruling.
The judge did, however, grant Pence a partial victory as to his argument that he was shielded from having to testify about Jan. 6 because of his constitutional role as part of the legislative branch.
Pence’s legal team had argued that the Constitution’s “speech and debate” clause should prevent special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors from eliciting any testimony about communications or activity related to Pence’s role as president of the Senate in presiding over the certification of the election results.
The ruling from Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said Pence does have some limited speech and debate protections.
The immunity, however, would not prevent him from testifying about conversations where there’s alleged “illegality” on Trump's part.
It’s unclear whether Pence plans to appeal Boasberg’s decision. Pence has previously vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. He told ABC he wasn’t asserting executive privilege over conversations unrelated to his duties on Jan. 6.
A spokesperson for Pence declined to comment.
