Former President Donald Trump in a new court filing alleged former Vice President Mike Pence of attempting to “curry favor” with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in his Jan. 6-related case in a bid to evade criminal charges.
The FBI found more classified documents at the former vice president’s house weeks later in February 2023. The investigation reportedly ended in June with no criminal charges being filed against Mr. Pence.
“The potential criminal charges faced by Vice President Pence gave him an incentive to curry favor with authorities by providing information that is consistent with the Biden Administration’s preferred, and false, narrative regarding this case,” the Trump attorneys wrote in the filing.
Accordingly, the special counsel’s office, led by Jack Smith, “must collect and disclose information maintained” by the Justice Department and the FBI related to the Pence investigation, “negotiations” relating to the FBI search, “and the decision not to bring charges,” said the filing. It was referring to the FBI having found the lone document in February, which was described “as consensual after negotiations” between the Department of Justice and Mr. Pence’s team.
In June, the DOJ wrote a letter to Mr. Pence’s attorney that the FBI and DOJ “have conducted an investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information” and that “based on the results of that investigation, no criminal charges will be sought.”
It comes as anonymously sourced reports on Tuesday indicated that Mr. Pence told Mr. Smith’s office more details to the special counsel’s office amid the investigation into President Trump’s alleged election crimes in Washington. The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The former vice president has not publicly responded to the latest court filing or the ABC News report. A spokesperson for President Trump, meanwhile, told ABC that “tens of millions of Americans, including Vice President Pence … have had grave and serious concerns about the legitimacy of the … 2020 Presidential Election, further proving that the lawless indictment against President Trump should be summarily dismissed.”
It’s not clear if the former vice president will testify in the election case, which is scheduled to go to trial in March 2024.
In a separate court filing made on Monday, President Trump’s lawyers sought more information related to election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. His attorneys argued that he had a “good faith” basis to question the results, demanding that prosecutors turn over any evidence in the contest.
“President Trump is entitled to all information supporting his position that his concerns regarding fraud during the 2020 election—rather than ‘knowingly false’ or criminal—were plausible and maintained in good faith,” his lawyers wrote. “To prop up the Biden Administration’s preferred political advocacy regarding the 2020 election, the indictment endorses the alleged views of ‘Senior White House Attorneys,’ ‘senior leaders of the Justice Department,’ ‘the Intelligence Community,’ the ‘Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.’”
His team, meanwhile, is also seeking documents related to the investigations into other foreign nation’s attempts to influence the 2020 election.
“Evidence of covert foreign disinformation campaigns relating to the 2020 election supports the defense argument that President Trump and others acted in good faith even if certain reports were ultimately determined to be inaccurate,” his lawyers wrote in the court filings.
His lawyers are also seeking to force prosecutors to turn over documents related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach at the U.S. Capitol. The attorneys are looking in part for statements by prosecutors in other Jan. 6-related cases that they say could conflict with the Smith team’s assertion that President Trump was responsible for the incident at the Capitol.
The Trump attorneys have already asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the indictment, saying he is shielded from prosecution by presidential immunity, and arguing that the charges violate his First Amendment rights. Those requests are still pending.
Aside from the Washington case, President Trump also faces criminal charges in Georgia, New York City, and Florida. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Meanwhile, both he and his company, the Trump Organization, are currently still on trial in New York City in a civil fraud case brought by the state’s Democratic attorney general. The Trumps have denied wrongdoing in that case, too, saying it’s part of a politically motivated attempt to imperil his presidential bid.
