Trump appeals order requiring Pence to testify in Jan. 6 probe -media

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump has appealed an order requiring his former vice president, Mike Pence, to testify in the special counsel probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to media reports on Monday.

Trump's lawyers filed the appeal after a ruling related to the Justice Department investigation of efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election that Trump, a Republican, lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Pence last week disclosed that he would not appeal a judge's ruling that requires him to testify to a federal grand jury about conversations he had with Trump leading up to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a March ruling, the judge also said Pence can still decline to answer questions related to Jan. 6.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to handle the two Trump investigations, is presenting evidence to multiple grand juries.

At issue are attempts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power following Trump's November 2020 loss to Biden and Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.

(Reporting by Kat Jackson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Jonathan Oatis)