As the investigation into the White House’s alleged ties to Russia continues to heat up, a constant theme throughout the story is the undulating web of lies emanating from President Trump and his staff. But some think Vice President Mike Pence hasn’t gotten his fair share of scrutiny.
On her show this Thursday, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow turned her focus to Pence.
Maddow started out her show with a lengthy look into the previously unknown 18 contacts between members of the Trump presidential campaign and Russian officials. As Reuters reported last week, the contacts happened between April 2016 and November 2016. She then played a series of clips showing Pence appearing on Fox News and CBS and outright denying the contacts took place.
“Mike Pence was blunt in his response to those questions,” Maddow said. “He looked very earnest, even scolding and disgusted by the question when he gave those answers.”
“But you know what? Those answers were not true,” she continued. “When [Pence] said there were no contacts, there were multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials while the Russians were attacking the U.S. presidential election.”
She went on to point out that after initially trying to quash those reports, the White House “has ultimately had to admit that yes, there were multiple contacts between Russian officials — and not just people on the campaign, but people who eventually ended up serving in high level positions in the new government.” People like, Jared Kushner, Attorney General Jess Sessions, and National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.
“Vice President Mike Pence has made a number of blunt … direct, false statements related to the Trump-Russia investigation, both during the transition and since he’s been vice president,” Maddow said. She then presented a clear-cut case for Mike Pence’s direct involvement in the Russiagate coverup:
“When controversies started to swirl around Mike Flynn because of his foreign contacts, Mike Pence bluntly asserted that the Trump transition had not applied for a security clearance for Mike Flynn’s son. They had, actually, applied for a security clearance for Mike Flynn’s son. After [President Trump] fired the FBI Director, Mike Pence bluntly asserted that the decision to fire James Comey was based on a recommendation from the deputy attorney general. The President himself, and reportedly the deputy attorney general now, himself, today have both made clear that was not the reason James Comey was fired. Mike Pence has also bluntly and boldly asserted that James Comey was not fired for anything having anything to do with the Trump-Russia investigation. The President himself now admits that [when he fired Comey] he was thinking about how much he hated that Trump-Russia investigation. Mike Pence has bluntly asserted that there were no Trump campaign contacts with the Russian government. That is not true. He has bluntly asserted that he had no idea that Mike Flynn had a paid relationship with any country’s foreign government. That would seem to be impossible, given his role in the transition and the number of times and the number of ways that transition was formerly notified, including in writing, of those ties. And of course, Mike Pence has a starring role in the big unanswered question about Mike Flynn’s time in the White House, which is why did they let him stay on as national security adviser for 18 days after the Justice Department came to the White House and told them that Mike Flynn was compromised by the Russians and was vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Why did he stay on for another 18 days thereafter? The White House’s story is that — well, actually there is no story for that. In the end they said he had to go because he had lied to Mike Pence, But why does a lie to Mike Pence take 18 days to flower before it has any consequences for something as serious as a foreign government having its tentacles that reach far into the upper reaches of the national security chain of command at the top of the U.S. government? … Mike Pence has his own troubles when it comes to this scandal.”
Watch the full segment in the video below, via MSNBC:
Featured image via screen grab
