In the latest of his blizzard of interviews, Donald Trump told Lester Holt that he was going to fire James Comey no matter what and that the decision was made before he got Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein to trump up some excuses. That’s awkward for Mike Pence, since:
“Let me be very clear that the President’s decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove Director Comey as the head of the FBI was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interests of the American people and to ensuring that the FBI has the trust and confidence of the people this nation,” Pence told reporters Wednesday.
Was Pence that far out of the loop? Nope. He was lying!
People close to the White House say that Pence knew the president was thinking about firing Comey before he met with Rosenstein on Monday. Trump, these people said, was frustrated with Comey’s testimony and the growing Russia investigation scrutiny into his campaign. He also disliked Comey’s testimony last week on Capitol Hill, particularly the FBI director’s use of the word “nauseous” to describe the election process. [...]
“Pence knew this wasn’t about Rosenstein writing a memo, the president seeing it and suddenly deciding to fire Comey,” said this person. “He knows better than that.”
The official explanation from Pence’s spokesman is that Pence “was speaking yesterday to the events that led to the president’s decision.” Except he wasn’t. The recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove Comey did not lead to Trump’s decision. Trump made the decision and then asked for the recommendation. And Pence knew it and he said otherwise. He’s such a devout Christian—can someone please ask him what the Bible has to say about lying?
