Rep. Jamie Raskin says he expects Mike Pence will 'testify voluntarily' to Jan. 6 committee

• On Face the Nation, Rep. Jamie Raskin said the Jan. 6 committee hopes to have Mike Pence testify.
• While a subpoena was "not out of the question" Raskin assumes Pence will "testify voluntarily."

Rep. Jamie Raskin said Sunday on Face the Nation that the house investigative committee hopes to have Mike Pence testify voluntarily but may consider legal force to compel him to discuss the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Pence was central to former President Donald Trump's plan to decertify President Joe Biden's 2020 election and was in the Senate presiding over the certification of the 2020 election results when the siege against the Capitol began.

"The whole idea was to get Pence to step outside his constitutional role and then to declare unilateral lawless powers to reject Electoral College votes from the states," Raskin told CBS News' Major Garrett during the interview. "So I think he has a lot of relevant evidence, and I would hope he would come forward and testify about what happened."

Raskin added that Pence "was the target of Donald Trump's wrath and fury and effort to overthrow the election on January 6," when asked how likely it would be that he would come forward.

As Trump supporters stormed through the Capitol chanting "hang Mike Pence," the former vice president hid a mere 40 feet away from the rioters. The mob was so close and so violent that the security detail defending Pence called their loved ones to say goodbye because they were fearful they would be killed during the attack.

While Raskin said the committee is "trying to get everybody to come forward voluntarily," the investigators may consider compelling testimony from witnesses like Pence.

"In no one's case is a subpoena out of question," Raskin said. "But I would assume he's going to come forward and testify voluntarily, the way the vast majority of people have."

Representatives for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Last month, Pence said he "would consider" testifying before the committee if there were "an invitation to participate," but has not yet done so.

A lawyer for Pence did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.