Mike Pence Knew

[babylonsister]

https://www.newsweek.com/mike-pence-knew-opinion-1469466?fbclid=IwAR3Aa6-JUzTtMDKEtifuFVey7ExtOulS4Zmt6SYu7RD3eoYv8orCcwMnV_c


Mike Pence Knew | Opinion
Greg Olear
On 11/5/19 at 6:00 AM EST

snip//

When asked point-blank whether he was aware of Trump shaking down Zelensky to implicate Joe Biden, the former debate team champion twisted himself into a rhetorical pretzel to avoid a direct answer. "I never discussed the issue of the Bidens with President Zelensky," Pence said. His evasive response to that explicit question is clearly not the same as "I had no advance knowledge of Trump's desire to smear Biden."

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?

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. "Of course not" was his indignant—and mendacious—reply.

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" regarding Flynn that "we knew to be untrue."

Finally, bear in mind how Pence came to be vice president in the first place. Trump selected him as his running mate over Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie, two men he personally preferred, at the insistence of Paul Manafort—a convicted felon and traitor to his country. As Tom LoBianco recounts in Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House, a chance flat tire on "Trump Force One" kept Trump overnight in Indianapolis, so the key sit-down took place at Pence's gubernatorial residence, rather than Trump's gaudy Manhattan apartment. Regarding the "miracle flat tire," LoBianco wrote, "Some aides saw God's hand at work. Others saw Paul Manafort's." Manafort was Putin's guy, and Pence was Manafort's.

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?

[napi21]

1. I'm sure he knew because he was told NOT to attend the inaguration of Zelinski. You think he

didn't ask WHY? I think Pence secretly wants DT impeached. Back when McCain lost the election to Obama, the religious right told Pence HE was their choice for a POTUS who would represent them! If DT is ousted, good old Mikey will achieve his dream. He obviously has to continue to openly support DT, but at home, in the security of only he & his wife, they're dreaming of Pres. Pence!

[crickets]

2. Of course he knew. Of course.

Nobody hold your breath waiting for him to 'come clean' or resign. When he's this close to his goal and it looks like he might land in the big chair? Nah. It's gonna get ugly.

[emmaverybo]

3. Pence is dirty as the rest.