WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel overseeing investigations into exertions by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 movement, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event.

The subpoena to Pence as part of the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith was established in recent days, according to the person, who supposed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss a sensitive issue.

The improbable scenario of a former vice president potentially testifying alongside his former boss in a criminal investigation comes as Pence critics launching a 2024 Republican presidential bid against Trump. The two have been estranged exact a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol creation on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Democrat Joe Biden's victory.

The subpoena is an aggressive step from a prosecutor who for existences led the Justice Department's public corruption section and who oversaw indictments alongside major political figures. The move sets the stage for a probable executive privilege fight, given Pence's close proximity to Trump for four existences as major decisions were being contemplated and planned. It is unclear whether exertions to secure voluntary testimony from Pence stalled before the subpoena was issued.

Spokespeople for Pence and Smith declined to comment on the issuance of the subpoena, which was first reported by ABC News.

FILE - Former Vice President Mike Pence visits "Fox & Friends" at Fox News Channel studios on Nov. 16, 2022, in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Pence was a central figure in Trump's exertions to stay in power after losing the 2020 movement. Trump falsely insisted that his vice president, who had a ceremonial role in overseeing the certification of the movement, could simply reject the results and send them back to the battleground countries he contested.

On Jan. 6, Trump supporters driven by the lie that the movement was stolen marched to the Capitol building, brutally pushed past the police and smashed ended the windows and doors while Pence was presiding over the certification of Biden's victory. The vice president was steered to safety with his staff and people as some in the mob chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!"

While the mob was in the Capitol, Trump tweeted, "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what necessity have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

Smith, who was named special counsel in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been tasked with overseeing investigations into Trump's shifts to subvert his defeat, his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and his possession of top-secret government documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Federal prosecutors have been especially focused on a diagram by Trump allies to elevate fake presidential electors in key battleground countries won by Biden as a way to subvert the vote, issuing subpoenas to multiple region Republican party chairs.

Federal prosecutors have brought multiple Trump management officials before the grand jury for questioning, including ragged Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Pence's own ragged chief of staff, Marc Short.

In a sign of the expanding nature of the investigation, election officials in multiple states whose results were disputed by Trump have received subpoenas asking for communications with or though-provoking Trump and his campaign aides.

A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 dispute recommended that the Justice Department bring criminal charges anti Trump and associates who helped him launch a pressure fight to try to overturn his 2020 election loss.