Pence appears before Jan. 6 grand jury

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a law enforcement round table hosted by Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor Rebecca Kleefisch at the Ingleside Hotel on August 03, 2022 in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Pence’s closed-door appearance marks an extraordinary flashpoint in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe. Smith’s team is investigating Trump’s last-ditch bid to pressure Pence into single-handedly derailing the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.

Pence’s appearance was accompanied by a frenzy of security activity at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where U.S. Marshals and other security personnel conducted sweeps of the building before Pence was whisked inside without being spotted by cameras at the courthouse’s main entrances.