Trump appeals order requiring Pence to testify in Jan. 6 probe -media

Trump's lawyers filed the appeal after a ruling related to the Justice Department investigation of efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential elections.

 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens with Vice President Mike Pence as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House in Washington, US, March 17, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens with Vice President Mike Pence as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House in Washington, US, March 17, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

Former US President Donald Trump has appealed an order requiring his former vice president, Mike Pence, to testify in the special counsel probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to media reports on Monday.

Trump's lawyers filed the appeal after a ruling related to the Justice Department investigation of efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election that Trump, a Republican, lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Pence last week disclosed that he would not appeal a judge's ruling that requires him to testify to a federal grand jury about conversations he had with Trump leading up to the deadly attack on the US Capitol.

In a March ruling, the judge also said Pence can still decline to answer questions related to Jan. 6.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to handle the two Trump investigations, is presenting evidence to multiple grand juries.

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the conflict in Syria with Vice President Mike Pence at his side in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 23, 2019 (credit: REUTERS//TOM BRENNER)
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the conflict in Syria with Vice President Mike Pence at his side in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 23, 2019 (credit: REUTERS//TOM BRENNER)

At issue are attempts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power following Trump's November 2020 loss to Biden and Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.