The House Select Committee in charge of investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, is reportedly hoping to interview former Vice-President Mike Pence later this month.

Speaking to NPR on January 7, Committee Chair Bennie Thompson said, “I think you could expect that [an interview with Pence] before the month’s out.”

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Pence’s cooperation in the investigation could be of critical import, Thompson added, saying that former President Donald Trump had put Pence in a tough spot by telling his supporters that Pence, as the head of the Senate, could’ve stopped Joe Biden‘s certification as the winner of the 2020 Presidential election. As the attack was taking place, Trump had tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

“The Vice President was put in a tough spot. The President was putting a lot of pressure on him to break the law, and he stood fast,” Thompson told NPR.

Indeed, Trump supporters had started a hashtag trend on Twitter calling for the hanging of Mike Pence, and similar chants were heard ringing through the halls of the US Capitol when it was stormed by pro-Trump supporters last year.

Given the situation Pence was put in by the former President and his supporters, Thompson said, “And so, if for no other reason, our committee really needs to hear what are his [Pence’s] opinions about what happened on Jan. 6.”

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Thompson concluded his interview, saying that the Committee would convene next week to formally ask former Vice President Pence for an interview. He added that the Committee was also looking into interviewing others from Trump’s inner circle, such as his daughter Ivanka Trump.

Earlier, Representative Liz Cheney, the Vice-Chair of the Committee, had also told NBC that the Committee was “looking forward” to Pence’s co-operation, who she described as a “hero” for warding off the pressure Trump had put on him to disrupt the the formalisation of Joe Biden’s victory.