Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, does not believe his role on one of the committees in charge of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald J. Trump constitutes a conflict of interest due to his relationship to the vice president and will not recuse himself from the investigation, said Kyle Robertson, Pence’s chief of staff.
Pence, who is the older brother of Columbus native and Vice President Mike Pence, is one of 21 Republican and 26 Democratic House members who sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of three committees leading the impeachment inquiry.
The other two committees include the House Intelligence Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
If Trump is impeached and removed from office, Pence’s brother would be sworn in as president.
As part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Pence has had access to closed-door depositions from U.S. officials speaking about Trump’s and other officials’ actions in Ukraine and the phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump said he would like the Ukraine president to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.
Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump stemming from a whistleblower’s complaint that Trump asked for help from the Ukrainian government in digging up dirt on Biden and his son, according to The Associated Press.
The inquiry largely revolves around whether Trump withheld U.S. military aid until Ukraine’s government agreed to investigate Biden and his son, The Associated Press reported.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. As part of the inquiry, members of the House have interviewed a series of U.S. officials, including diplomats stationed in Ukraine and elsewhere.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
