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If Pence knew or if, worse, he aided and abetted the extortion--he should resign immediately.
Mike Pence Knew | Opinion
The Zelensky call accomplished what the Mueller report could not. Once again, the president abused his power and tried to cover it up. This time, it will cost him. As a consequence of the Ukraine scandal, the House will impeach Donald Trump, and the Senate will find ample cause to convict him.
As a practical matter, however, this presents a whole new problem. Whatever Trump did with regard to Ukraine, Mike Pence was mixed up in it, too. We know that Pence read, or at least was given a transcript of, Trump's call with Volodymyr Zelensky. We know he met with the Ukrainian president in Warsaw. And we know that Pence had his own call with Zelensky—a fact that Trump himself offered up unsolicited, seemingly eager to spread around the blame. "I think you should ask for Vice President Pence's conversation," Trump tattled to reporters, "because he had a couple of conversations also." The president characterized the Pence-Zelensky calls as "perfect." Congress is not so sure and has formally requested transcripts of those calls. Despite saying a month ago that he had "no objection" to releasing the transcripts, Pence has yet to do so.
<snip>
It strains credulity to believe that Pence was unaware of Trump's crooked intentions. If Bill Taylor and Fiona Hill and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Tim Morrison and Gordon Sondland and John Eisenberg and Mike Pompeo and Rick Perry and Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton and the still-anonymous whistleblower all knew what Trump was up to regarding Biden and Ukraine, how could Trump's second banana possibly be in the dark?
<snip>
It's not like Mike Pence is the poster boy for telling the truth. He's lied before to cover Trump's shady dealings—as in his January 2017 appearance on Face the Nation, when John Dickerson asked him if anyone on the Trump campaign had meetings with Russians.
<snip>
Nor is this the first instance in which Pence has pleaded—or, perhaps, feigned—ignorance. In early 2017, the vice president claimed he learned that then–national security adviser Mike Flynn, his former Trump transition team deputy, had discussed sanctions in his December meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak by reading the exclusive in The Washington Post. The rest of the Trump team was aware weeks before the story broke. In her congressional testimony, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates said Flynn was a liar and "compromised with respect to the Russians." Yates was urgently concerned that Pence was "making false statements to the public"
<snip>
The American people need the truth. The VP needs to come clean. If Pence knew what Trump was up to—if he observed the president flagrantly breaking the law and did nothing to stop him; or if, worse, he aided and abetted the illicit activity—he should resign immediately. It makes no sense for Congress to remove Trump, only to elevate an accomplice to the same crimes. Do we really want to replace the guy who robbed the bank with the guy who drove the getaway car? - Newsweek
The Zelensky call accomplished what the Mueller report could not. Once again, the president abused his power and tried to cover it up. This time, it will cost him. As a consequence of the Ukraine scandal, the House will impeach Donald Trump, and the Senate will find ample cause to convict him.
As a practical matter, however, this presents a whole new problem. Whatever Trump did with regard to Ukraine, Mike Pence was mixed up in it, too. We know that Pence read, or at least was given a transcript of, Trump's call with Volodymyr Zelensky. We know he met with the Ukrainian president in Warsaw. And we know that Pence had his own call with Zelensky—a fact that Trump himself offered up unsolicited, seemingly eager to spread around the blame. "I think you should ask for Vice President Pence's conversation," Trump tattled to reporters, "because he had a couple of conversations also." The president characterized the Pence-Zelensky calls as "perfect." Congress is not so sure and has formally requested transcripts of those calls. Despite saying a month ago that he had "no objection" to releasing the transcripts, Pence has yet to do so.
<snip>
It strains credulity to believe that Pence was unaware of Trump's crooked intentions. If Bill Taylor and Fiona Hill and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Tim Morrison and Gordon Sondland and John Eisenberg and Mike Pompeo and Rick Perry and Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton and the still-anonymous whistleblower all knew what Trump was up to regarding Biden and Ukraine, how could Trump's second banana possibly be in the dark?
<snip>
It's not like Mike Pence is the poster boy for telling the truth. He's lied before to cover Trump's shady dealings—as in his January 2017 appearance on Face the Nation, when John Dickerson asked him if anyone on the Trump campaign had meetings with Russians.
<snip>
Nor is this the first instance in which Pence has pleaded—or, perhaps, feigned—ignorance. In early 2017, the vice president claimed he learned that then–national security adviser Mike Flynn, his former Trump transition team deputy, had discussed sanctions in his December meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak by reading the exclusive in The Washington Post. The rest of the Trump team was aware weeks before the story broke. In her congressional testimony, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates said Flynn was a liar and "compromised with respect to the Russians." Yates was urgently concerned that Pence was "making false statements to the public"
<snip>
The American people need the truth. The VP needs to come clean. If Pence knew what Trump was up to—if he observed the president flagrantly breaking the law and did nothing to stop him; or if, worse, he aided and abetted the illicit activity—he should resign immediately. It makes no sense for Congress to remove Trump, only to elevate an accomplice to the same crimes. Do we really want to replace the guy who robbed the bank with the guy who drove the getaway car? - Newsweek
Deliciously scandalous.
That whole third paragraph.
8 replies
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