Former Vice President Mike Pence's name was included in a list of more than 150 witnesses that prosecutors in Georgia could call for Donald Trump's trial in the state on charges that he sought to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
Pence has previously appeared before a grand jury in special counsel Jack Smith's federal investigation into Trump's efforts to undermine President Joe Biden's victory.
The list of witnesses in Georgia has not been made public and was first reported by CNN. A grand jury in Fulton County indicted Trump and 18 others in August, accusing them of participating in a vast scheme to keep Trump in power.
In January 2021, Pence found himself in the crosshairs of the crazed fringe that invaded the U.S. Capitol after the former Indiana governor certified the presidential election results and removed Trump from office.
“Despite what the former president and his allies have said and continue to say for more than two and a half years … the election in Georgia was not stolen, and I had no right to overturn the election on January 6,” Pence said in August. .
Trump and Pence in happier times during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland
In October, the former Indiana governor quietly ended his presidential campaign
Last week, one of Trump's lawyers, Steven Sadow, said Trump should be exempt from a trial in Georgia if he wins the 2024 presidential election.
The former Apprentice host is currently the Republican front-runner for the nomination despite the numerous legal entanglements he faces, which have seen him impeached twice and hit the economy in the final months of his presidency.
In October, Pence quietly ended his campaign for the nomination.
Sadow's comments show how Trump could use his campaign and a possible second four-year term to delay those cases, even in state courts where he would be unable to pardon himself and have no control over the prosecutions.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week requested that the Georgia trial begin in August 2024, a timeline that would likely extend the proceedings through Election Day and into early 2025.
“What would be the state's response that holding this trial on Election Day is election interference?” Judge Scott McAfee asked prosecutors.
“The district attorney has made it clear that she has no interest in interfering or becoming involved in this presidential election,” prosecutor Nathan Wade said during the hearing. “Her sole focus is to move this cause forward.”
Trump objected to the proposed trial in August.
“Can you imagine that idea that the Republican candidate for president can't campaign for president because he's somehow in the courtroom defending himself?” Sadow asked during the hearing.
Trump is ahead in Arizona and Georgia, but trails Biden in Wisconsin
Former President Donald Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican 2024 nomination
Trump and 14 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges as part of what prosecutors allege was a coordinated plan to overturn Trump's narrow defeat in Georgia after the 2020 election.
Four of the original 19 defendants have pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their agreement and cooperation with prosecutors.
McAfee did not set a trial date Friday, but expressed skepticism that all 15 remaining suspects could be tried together.
On Thursday, four Republican candidates, minus Trump, will argue their respective cases before the American public on the debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Trump, who has staged public appearances during the three previous GOP debates to compete for attention, will this time spend the evening at a behind-closed-doors fundraiser in Florida.
The four participants are former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
However, the candidates' recent maneuvers suggest they will spend more time chasing each other than targeting Trump, and many Republican power players say attacking the former president is increasingly fruitless given his popularity among Republicans.