Mike Pence to fight DOJ special counsel subpoena on Trump's efforts to overturn 2020 election results

Former Vice President Mike Pence is preparing to resist a Justice Department grand jury subpoena for him to testify on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Fox News has learned.

A source familiar with the former vice president's thinking told Fox News on Tuesday morning that Pence plans to fight the subpoena issued last week by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding the Jan. 6 investigation into Trump, on the ground that he was president of the Senate and should be shielded from the order. Currently, it appears Pence is not planning to assert executive privilege.

Politico first reported on Pence’s decision to challenge the DOJ subpoena earlier Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the former vice president’s thought process. 

The former vice president’s allies told Politico he's protected by a constitutional provision called the "speech and debate clause," which generally shields members of Congress from having to fear that anything they say during legislative activities will implicate them in a lawsuit. According to Politico, Pence’s allies said federal prosecutors are legally blocked from compelling testimony from the former vice president related to key elements of Smith’s probe under the Constitution’s separation of powers.