Washington: According to a source familiar with the decision, a federal judge has ordered that former US Vice President Mike Pence testify before a grand jury about conversations he had with former President Donald Trump prior to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The source added that Pence still has time to appeal the judge's decision, which is still under seal, and that Pence can continue to refuse to respond to inquiries about Jan. 6. According to the source, the appeal option is being considered.

The source, who was quoted by CNN and NBC, said that the judge's ruling requires Trump's former vice president and potential rival for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 to appear before the federal grand jury but exempts him from giving testimony regarding Jan. 6, 2021, itself.

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Pence said there was only so much he could say about the proceedings when asked if he would appeal the order during an interview on Newsmax on Tuesday. He said: "I'm pleased that the court accepted our argument and recognised that the vice president is covered by the Constitution's provision regarding speech and debate.

But we are currently reviewing how they handled that, along with the requirements of my testimony moving forward; I'll have more to say about that in the coming days. Pence was getting ready to defy a grand jury subpoena, a source told Reuters in February.

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Before the events of January 6, sources told Reuters that Trump had repeatedly criticised Pence in public and privately for failing to try to stop Congress from certifying Biden's victory in the 2020 election.

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A spokesperson for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who is in charge of the US Department of Justice's investigation into allegations that Trump and his allies tried to rig the 2020 election, could not be reached for comment right away.