Tag: Mike Pence

IRS whistleblower said to report Treasury political appointee might have tried to interfere in audit of Trump or Pence

Washington Post logoAn Internal Revenue Service ­official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told that at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president’s or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document.

Trump administration officials dismissed the whistleblower’s complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it in a federal court filing. They are also discussing whether to make it public.

The details of the IRS complaint follow news of a separate, explosive whistleblower complaint filed in August by a member of the intelligence community. That complaint revealed Trump’s request of Ukranian leaders to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, a political rival. It has spurred an impeachment probe on Capitol Hill.

View the complete October 3 article by Jeff Stein, Tom Hamberger and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Trump involved Pence in efforts to pressure Ukraine’s leader, though officials say vice president was unaware of allegations in whistleblower complaint

Washington Post logoPresident Trump repeatedly involved Vice President Pence in efforts to exert pressure on the leader of Ukraine at a time when the president was using other channels to solicit information that he hoped would be damaging to a Democratic rival, current and former U.S. officials said.

Trump instructed Pence not to attend the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in May — an event White House officials had pushed to put on the vice president’s calendar — when Ukraine’s new leader was seeking recognition and support from Washington, the officials said.

Months later, the president used Pence to tell Zelensky that U.S. aid was still being withheld while demanding more aggressive action on corruption, officials said. At that time — following Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelenksy — the Ukrainians probably understood action on corruption to include the investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

View the complete October 2 article by Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe and Ashley Parker on The Washington Post website here.

From Bill Barr to Mike Pence: Here are all the people Trump could take down with him

AlterNet logoIt’s hard to recall anything that Donald Trump has touched which initially looked bad but eventually turned out to be nothing. With Trump, things are always worse than they appears. Throughout his recent career, that has usually ended up hurting those closest to Trump more than the president himself. If that pattern holds true in the growing Ukraine scandal, then several top members of Trump’s administration should be worried right now. This is likely to get real messy before it ends.

While attempting to defend himself from accusations that he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military aid during at least one phone call — a reconstructed transcript, or “memo” of which was released on Wednesday — Trump gratuitously dragged his vice president into the middle of his mess.

“I think you should ask for VP Pence’s conversation because he had a couple of conversations also,” Trump told reporters during a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations summit. “I could save you a lot of time. They were all perfect. Nothing was mentioned of any import other than congratulations.”

View the complete September 26 article by Sophia Tesfaye from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Pence knew about — and actually participated in — Trump’s apparent Ukraine extortion plot: report

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence is seemingly complicit in President Donald Trump’s apparent extortion and bribery plot, based on the transcript of a press conference the VP held in Poland on September 2. At issue is a whistleblower’s complaint that the White House refuses to release. It is believed it says Trump repeatedly threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine until, or in exchange for, that country digging up and handing over dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. There is no evidence any dirt was found or even exists.

Talking Points memo editor Josh Marshall writes Monday that “the key thing about this latest and most egregious Trump scandal is that his senior team was clearly in on it, aware of it, participated in it. One key person here is Vice President Mike Pence.”

Marshall published the official White House transcript of that press conference with President Duda of Poland. It’s clear Pence not only knew about the scheme but participated in it, based on his own admissions.

View the complete September 23 article by David Badash from the New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

Mike Pence’s biographer confirms Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are trying to dump the vice president: ‘That’s all real’

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump is purposefully humiliating his vice president with a series of loyalty tests as his daughter and son-in-law scheme to find a replacement as his 2020 running mate, according to a new biography.

Journalist Tom LoBianco, who has covered Mike Pence’s political career since its very beginning, previewed his new biography, “Piety & Power,” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“Over the summer he had two terrible events in July,” LoBianco said. “The weird thing where he flies out to New Hampshire, gets called back to the last minute. Then they send him to a detention camp and there is a terrible video of him with a grim face, which should have been Trump. That should have been the president, not the vice president, that’s what VP’s aides and allies are telling me. They see that as Trump yanking on the leash.”

View the complete September 23 article by Travis Gettys from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Mike Pence gave a dodgy answer when asked if Trump used Ukraine aid to force a Biden investigation

AlterNet logoOn his trip to Poland earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence was asked directly about whether the hold-up in about $250 million in military aid to Ukraine had any relation to Rudy Giuliani trying to dig up dirt on the Biden family. Pence had just met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the day before, and he dodged the implication of the question entirely.

Without offering a yes or no, Pence said, “We discussed America’s support for Ukraine and the upcoming decision the President will make on the latest tranche of financial support in great detail.”

What makes Pence’s response even more interesting is that the reporter asked a two-part question: “Did you discuss Joe Biden at all during that meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President? And number two, can you assure Ukraine that the hold-up of that money has absolutely nothing to do with efforts, including by Rudy Giuliani, to try to dig up dirt on the Biden family?”

View the complete September 20 article by Kerry Eleveld from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

GOP blocks probe of Mike Pence’s trip to Ireland after VP spent $600,000 on limousine rides so he could stay at Trump’s resort

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence’s trip to Ireland — or more precisely his curious stay at one of President Trump’s hotels — has prompted multiple congressional probes. But the Democrat-led oversight investigations have already drawn complaints and pushback from Trump’s loudest Republican defenders on Capitol Hill, including the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.

Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate have sent official letters of inquiry to the vice president’s office seeking specific information on the costs of Pence’s recent stay at Trump International Golf Club in Doonbeg, Ireland. They have imposed a Sept. 19 deadline for the administration and the Trump Organization to turn over relevant documents. Democrats have raised concerns that Pence’s stay at Trump’s resort could have violated the emoluments clause in the Constitution. They’ve asked for details like the cost of the stay, Secret Service protection, and comparable rates for hotels nearby as well as across the country in Dublin, where Pence held meetings with Irish officials and business leaders.

The vice president’s decision to stay at Trump’s resort can hardly be defended as one of convenience, as Pence previously suggested. Doonbeg is in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, nearly a four-hour drive from most of Pence’s scheduled meetings in Dublin. According to an analysis by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Pence’s stay cost taxpayers $599,454.36 in limousine service alone.

View the complete September 18 article by Sophia Tesfaye from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

‘They threaten Mike every week’: Report says Trump is frustrated with Pence and his team wants to kick him off the 2020 ticket

AlterNet logoVanity Fair reporter Gabriel Sherman published a story Monday claiming that President Donald Trump’s team is considering replacing Mike Pence as vice president on the 2020 ticket.

Previous reports have made similar claims, including one from Axios reporter Jonathan Swan who found, like Sherman, that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are driving the discussions to replace Pence.

Even before this latest round of reports and speculation about a vice-presidential switch, rumors have long percolated about former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley joining the ticket in 2020. But readers may also recall that in 2011, similar rumors floated around about then-President Barack Obama dumping Vice President Joe Biden from the 2012 ticket and replacing him with Hillary Clinton. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

View the complete September 16 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

 

Vice President Pence to headline anti-gay Christian conservative group’s anniversary gala at Trump’s DC hotel

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence is the headline act for Concerned Women for America‘s 40th anniversary celebration – and fundraising – dinner Thursday night, at the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C. Pence will deliver his remarks around 7 PM at the Christian conservative anti-gay group’s “Ruby Red and Black Tie Gala” at the Trump International’s Ballroom.

“The planned speeches suggest that President Trump and his Cabinet are not shying away from events that drive revenue to Trump’s company, even after multiple stories have brought new scrutiny to the blurring of lines between Trump’s business and presidency,” The Washington Post reports.

It’s a stunning cirle of money and influence the President has created.

View the complete September 12 article by David Badash from the New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

Pence family boondoggle in Ireland cost US taxpayers $600,000 for the limos alone: report

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence went to Poland to stand in for Donald Trump, who decided to stay behind in the U.S. for a weekend of monitoring Hurricane Dorian from his golf cart. Pence met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on behalf of Trump in an effort to build support for allowing Russia to be re-admitted to the G-7, something all the other members of the G-7 oppose because of Putin’s aggressive actions in the Crimea region of Ukraine, which he annexed for Russia.

Afterward, the Pence family, which included the vice president’s wife-mother, sister, and mother, loaded up for a trip to Ireland, where the Pence family immigrated from several generations ago. Although he was there to meet with Irish leaders and he was technically there on official United States business, Pence and his family opted to stay on the opposite side of the country, to be near the hometown of Pence’s great-great-grandpappy, which also happened to be conveniently located near the once struggling Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg. Oh, what a time they had! They saw a pub! They walked down the main street to the pub, which is owned by a distant cousin of Pence’s, with an entourage of limousines behind them, waving to the roughly half-dozen people who turned out to see them.

Now we learn that the travel back and forth from Dublin to Doonbeg, where the Pence family spent two nights at Trump’s hotel, were quite costly for American taxpayers. CREW obtained the contracts from the State Department and learned that taxpayers ponied up $599,454.36 just for the limousines used to ferry the Pence family back and forth across Ireland.

View the complete September 10 article by Jen Hayden from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.