I never stood in the way of senior members of my team cooperating with the committee and testifying.

But Congress has no right to my testimony.

That was Mike Pence last year talking about the January 6th committee, which never sent him a subpoena.

But now he is facing one this time from the special counsel investigating

former President Trump's role in the attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill,

the first hearing for the Select Committee on the weaponization of government goes pretty much exactly

as you would expect, with Republicans hitting their usual list of grievances. And also ahead, the State Department releases new details about the Chinese surveillance balloon. It comes as a prominent Republican defends the response from the Biden administration. registration. Good morning and welcome to way too early on this Friday, February 10th.

I'm Jonathan Lemire.

Thanks for starting your day with us.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the Special Counsel investigating Donald Trump's

efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

According to an NBC news source, Pence's subpoena is related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

Both Pence and Special Counsel Jack Smith declined to comment on the matter yesterday.

Smith was appointed to lead the probe back in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Since then, he has subpoenaed local officials in key presidential swing states for any and

all communications involving Trump, his campaign, and allies.

This comes as the House committee that investigated the capital riot

found evidence that fake electors submitted false certifications of Trump victories to the

National Archives in the hopes that Pence would substitute them for the real votes that made

Joe Biden president. We'll have more on that story in the days ahead. Also this morning,

we're learning more about the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down off the coast of South

Carolina on Saturday. According to a senior State Department official, the balloon was

...