The January 6 committee chair said the panel expects former Vice President Mike Pence to testify

• The January 6 committee is planning to request Mike Pence to appear before the panel later this month.
• The chair of the panel told NPR that he expects the former vice president to appear voluntarily.
• The move comes as the committee zeroes in on Trump’s role in the insurrection, as well as his allies.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, said Friday that the panel is planning to call former Vice President Mike Pence to testify about the insurrection later this month.

The Mississippi lawmaker told NPR that he also expects Pence to appear voluntarily.

“I think you could expect that before the month’s out,” Thompson told the outlet.

Ahead of the deadly January 6 siege, Pence affirmed that he would vote to certify the 2020 election results, despite mounting pressure from former President Donald Trump to abandon his duty and reject Biden’s win in multiple battleground states.

Ahead of the proceedings, Pence published a letter saying his commitment to the Constitution “constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.”

Thompson told NPR that Pence was put in a “tough spot” when Trump pressured him to break the law, but the former vice president “stood fast.”

“And because of his respect for law, there were people who came to the Capitol a year ago wanting to hang him,” Thompson added. “And so, if for no other reason, our committee really needs to hear what are his opinions about what happened on Jan. 6.”

Earlier this week, Axios reported that aides to the former vice president have been actively cooperating with the committee and testifying without being subpoenaed.

Thompson told NPR that the committee is meeting behind closed doors next week where it plans to finalize plans concerning a voluntary request for Pence’s appearance. 

The announcement comes as the committee zeroes in on Trump’s role in the insurrection, as well as his allies, having sent requests to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Rep. Scott Perry, and Rep. Jim Jordan in recent weeks. According to NPR, the committee has already issued more than 50 subpoenas and interviewed 350 witnesses. 

Thompson added that the panel hasn’t ruled out requesting appearances from other key players in Trump’s inner circle, including the former president’s daughter Ivanka Trump.

“Look, we are absolutely open to anyone coming voluntarily to the committee,” Thompson told NPR. “If in fact we think somebody has information that as a committee we need, and getting a subpoena for that person’s participation is important, then we will do it.”