Tag: Mike Pence

Mike Pence was criticized for his handling of Indiana’s HIV outbreak. He will lead the U.S. coronavirus response.

Washington Post logoWhen President Trump announced that Vice President Pence would lead federal efforts against the spread of the coronavirus, he said Pence was the right person for the task because of his experience.

“He’s got a certain talent for this,” Trump said at a White House briefing about the virus, which has infected nearly five dozen people in the United States so far.

The announcement has cast light on Pence’s record as a lawmaker and his handling of a major public health crisis during his time as governor of Indiana. The worst HIV outbreak in the state’s history happened on his watch in 2015, which critics blamed on Pence’s belated response and his opposition to authorizing a needle-exchange program. Continue reading.

Trump names Pence to lead coronavirus response

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday announced that Vice President Pence would lead the administration’s coronavirus response, seeking to bolster public confidence after days of mixed messages from top officials.

Trump’s comments in the White House briefing room Wednesday sought to change the course on what Democrats said was an inadequate response to the coronavirus, which has spread quickly across the globe.

“The number one priority from our standpoint is the health and safety of the American people,” said Trump, who was flanked by Pence and members of the White House’s coronavirus task force. Continue reading.

What will Democrats do if Trump and Pence refuse to leave office?

AlterNet logoThe 10th Democratic Party presidential primary debate was held on Tuesday night in Charleston, South Carolina. Although the atmosphere was frenzied and almost chaotic at times, it was much like those that came before.

To this point, the candidates have been asked questions about such topics as the economy, global climate disaster, immigration, tax policy, foreign affairs, health care, sexism, racism and other forms of social inequality.

These “debates” — which are largely scripted interactions where soundbites are offered in response to predictable questions — have had their moments of excitement. Last week we saw Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s pummeling of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg as though she were world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and he were some hapless club fighter. The debate in Charleston saw Warren continue her dismantling of Bloomberg. As the frontrunner, Sen. Sanders was also a prime target where the other candidates attacked him en masse but none were able to truly defeat him. Former vice president Joe Biden struggled to remain relevant. Continue reading.

FAST FACTS: Pence’s Involvement

Adam Schiff just described Pence’s continued involvement in Trump’s gross abuse of power.
SCHIFF: “Pence was neither surprised nor dismayed at the description of this quid pro quo.”
Here are the facts:
  1.  Pence planned to attend Zelensky’s inauguration, but Trump instructed him not to and sent the “three amigos” instead.
Jennifer Williams testified that Trump asked Pence not to attend the inauguration with no reason given.
David Holmes testified that Pence pulled out of attending the inauguration after Giuliani announced and cancelled a Ukraine trip: “We were told that Vice President Pence was likely to be that senior member, it was not yet fully agreed to. And so we were anticipating that to be the case. And then the Giuliani event happened, and then we heard that he was not going to play that role.”
Rick Perry led the delegation to Zelensky’s inauguration instead of Pence. The delegation included Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker — the “three amigos.”
  1. Multiple Pence advisers listened in on Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president, during which Trump instructed Zelensky to work with Giuliani on investigations, and notes were taken for Pence.
Pence’s national security adviser, Keith Keellogg, listened in on Trump’s call with Zelensky.
Pence’s special adviser on Europe and Russia, Jennifer Williams, also listened in on Trump’s call with Zelensky. She took notes to inform Pence about the call and called Trump’s actions highly “unusual and inappropriate,” as well as politically motivated.
  1. Slightly more than a month later, Trump sent Pence to meet with Zelensky in Poland in his place. Zelensky immediately asked Pence about the withheld aid, and Pence replied in a way interpreted to be about Trump’s investigations.
Trump sent Pence to meet Zelensky with a message that the U.S. would not release military aid until they had assurances Zelensky was committed to fighting corruption.
Gordon Sondland testified that in a briefing before the meeting, he brought up concerns to Pence that the delay in aid was tied to investigations — and Pence had no reaction.
The first question Zelensky asked Pence was about the withheld military aid, and Pence replied that he wanted to hear about the progress of reforms, which Zelensky would have interpreted as code for the investigations Trump wanted.
Pence told reporters after the meeting that he and Zelensky discussed corruption and that Trump had him make clear they had “great concerns” about corruption.
  1. Trump met with Pence immediately before releasing the military aid to Ukraine, and days later, Pence praised Zelensky for tackling “corruption.”
Impeachment Inquiry Report: “On the evening of September 11, prior to lifting the hold, President Trump met with Vice President Mike Pence, Mr. Mulvaney, and Senator Portman to discuss the hold. Around 8:00 p.m. on September 11, the Chief of Staff’s office informed Dr. Kupperman that the hold had been lifted.”
Pence praised the Zelensky “administration for its bold action to tackle corruption through legislative reforms, and offered full U.S. support for those efforts” during a mid-September call.

Trump is preparing to release his Middle East peace plan, will brief Israel’s Netanyahu in Washington, Pence says

Washington Post logoJERUSALEM — President Trump on Thursday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger in upcoming elections, Benny Gantz, to Washington next week for what is expected to be a discussion of Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

Vice President Pence extended the invitations while in Israel, where he met with the embattled longtime Israeli leader and his lesser-known rival, amid reports that Trump will release the full plan this spring.

“President Trump asked me to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to the White House next week to discuss regional issues, as well as the prospect of peace here in the Holy Land,” Pence said, speaking alongside Netanyahu at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

Nikki Haley blasted for ‘categorically false’ lie about Democrats: ‘Ridiculous, inflammatory and dangerous’

AlterNet logoFormer UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is under fire for attacking Democrats with lies in an attempt to defend President Donald Trump – a strategy some say she is employing to get Trump to see her as a replacement for Vice President Mike Pence on the 2020 ticket.

Monday night Haley went on Fox News to deliver what some journalists are calling “categorically false” and “ridiculous, inflammatory and dangerous” remarks.

Haley told Fox News viewers – which includes President Trump – that the “only ones mourning the loss of Soleimani are our Democrat leadership and Democrat Presidential candidates.” Continue reading.

Mike Pence shows just how much contempt he holds for the American public with tweet containing multiple lies

AlterNet logoDonald Trump has lied over 14,000 times since taking office. Some of those lies are about the economy, some of them about his political opponents, and a surprising number involve Trump claiming credit for programs actually signed into law by Barack Obama. Trump’s been joined in his lies by members of his White House team, from Kellyanne Conway to Mick Mulvaney to Mike Pompeo, delivering a fat untruth with a sneer seems to be the primary qualification to join Team Trump.

But it’s a tweet posted by Mike Pence on Friday that may be the best illustration of the lies originating from this White House. Because it’s not just a lie, it’s multiple lies. Incredibly lazy lies. Lies so sloppy, with so little attention to history, reason, or anything else, that Pence should be forced to wear them eternally stapled to his massive white forehead.

In defense of assassinating Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Pence went through a long list of Soleimani’s supposed crimes. Among them “Assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.” Continue reading.

Defending Airstrike, Pence Falsely Blames Iran For 9/11 Attack

Attempting to justify the Trump administration’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Mike Pence falsely claimed that Iran was involved in planning for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States,” Pence wrote, referring to Iran’s Quds Force, which was under the leadership of Soleimani.

Pence’s claim is at complete odds with the official findings of the 9/11 commission, which exhaustively investigated and examined the attack. Continue reading.

Schiff Suggests Pence ‘Purposefully’ Misled Intelligence Committee about His Call with Zelensky

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff accused Vice President Mike Pence of refusing to declassify information “directly relevant” to the impeachment inquiry in order to conceal his role in the quid pro quo scheme for which President Trump is being impeached.

Pence’s Russia adviser Jennifer Williams testified last month about the vice president’s September 18 phone call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Schiff requested ten days later that Pence declassify her testimony, contained in a November 26 letter from her lawyer, but Pence last week declined to do so in a letter to Schiff.

The testimony “raises profound questions about your knowledge of the President’s scheme to solicit Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” Schiff wrote in a Tuesday letter to Pence, adding that Pence’s letter refusing to classify Williams’s testimony is “deeply troubling.” Continue reading

Pence rejects calls to declassify new impeachment testimony

The vice president’s lawyer says it “serves no purpose.”

Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel rejected House Democrats’ request to declassify details of a Sept. 18 call between Pence and Ukraine’s president, calling the request illegitimate because the impeachment inquiry has concluded.

In a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Pence’s lawyer, Matthew Morgan, said it “serves no purpose” to declassify supplemental testimony from one of Pence’s national security aides, as Schiff had demanded.

“At this point, the Intelligence Committee’s oversight authority is limited to those areas in which it may potentially legislate or appropriate,” Morgan wrote to Schiff, who pressed Pence last week to declassify supplemental testimony from one of the vice president’s national security aides, Jennifer Williams.

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