Budowsky: Mike Pence, democracy and the Republican Party’s future

In January of 2021, in one of the greatest acts of courage and patriotism in the history of democracy, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Electoral College had selected Joe Biden to be president of the United States. 

It is no exaggeration to suggest that on that day, with our Capitol invaded by insurrectionists — including some who carried banners calling for Vice President Pence to be hung — American democracy faced one of its gravest dangers since 1776. 

Nor is it an exaggeration to state that centuries from now, because of the integrity, courage, honor and patriotism of the vice president at that moment, historians will write that the light of our democracy shined bright. 

Former Vice President Pence has written a book about his experiences at that time, and spoken about it at length around the nation. And since then, major investigations have begun and advanced surrounding the attempts to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland named Jack Smith special counsel for the investigation. Smith requested that Pence testify, Pence declined to testify, Smith issued a subpoena for Pence to testify, Pence is now contesting the subpoena in court. 

With great respect, I would advise former Vice President Pence to end his opposition to the subpoena, agree to testify at the earliest possible date, and get his role in this matter done so he could return to running for president, if he so decides. 

From his vantage point, it would be destructive to his presidential campaign for his legal case to be in the news while the campaign advances, particularly if he is ordered by the courts to testify — which is the most likely outcome — and his testimony occurs during a more heated campaign moment. 

I would commend to Pence and his friends and supporters the excellent op-ed in The New York Times on Feb. 24 by J. Michael Luttig, retired Court of Appeals judge, who advised Pence before he made his Electoral College decision. He is one of Americas leading conservative legal authorities and makes a sweeping case for Pence to do the right thing. 

Mr. Luttig also notes Pence using the phrase “the Biden DOJ subpoena.” Does the former vice president who made a historic defense of democracy, using a partisan, cheap-shot phrase, want to degenerate into Trump-like legal tactics to stall and avoid testimony? 

My advice to the former vice president would be to fulfill his legal duties to fully defend our democracy in court, benefit from his historical reputation for the great deed he did in January 2021, and evolve into a Republican statesman and presidential candidate in the tradition of Ronald Reagan. 

When Pence recently went to the defense of Ukraine, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) have been doing, it was a valuable contribution to bipartisan support for democracy and freedom. 

Pence could become a Republican statesman, calling for an extension of the debt ceiling in a way that avoids an economic crash, as McConnell does. He could be a role model for all who wish his party to return to the best times in its history. 

But above all, the former vice president should guard his enormous historical contribution and reputation for defending democracy in January 2021. He should not use legal tactics reminiscent of Trump to avoid testifying, which is a losing legal proposition, or partisan statements about special counsel Jack Smith filing “the Biden DOJ subpoena,” which is profoundly wrong and unwise on many levels. 

Former Vice President Pence defended democracy like a lion in January of 2021, in ways that will be remembered centuries from now. He should not surrender an inch of that historical honor, especially just to win a few more votes in a 2024 election he will almost certainly not win. 

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives.