BAIER: The story today that former national security adviser Michael Flynn has filed with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent for making more than $500,000 as a lobbyist, essentially, for Turkey. Your reaction to that, given that, doesn’t that mean, Mr. Vice President, that even if he didn’t lie to you about what the Russian ambassador said or didn’t say, that you would have had to fire him anyway?
PENCE: Well, let me say, hearing that story today was the first I'd heard of it. And I fully support the decision that President Trump made to ask for General Flynn’s resignation.
BAIER: You’re disappointed by the story?
PENCE: The first I heard of it, and I think it is, uh, it is an affirmation of the president’s decision to ask General Flynn to resign.
As you may recall, Rachel Maddow wiped the floor with him, pointing out that as Head of the Transition Team, Pence had to have known about Flynn. Then there was the revelation that Trump's team knew Flynn was under investigation when they hired him. Despite all this, Pence's office astonishingly gave this response to reporter Abby Phillip of the Washington Post when she made an inquiry about an update on this story. Here's what Phillip got on May 18th:
Update: Pence's office has issued a statement on this. It seems to suggest that Pence was indeed never told of Flynn's ties to Turkey back in January: "The vice president stands by his comments in March upon first hearing the news regarding General Flynn's ties to Turkey and fully supports the president's decision to ask for General Flynn's resignation."
It's not totally clear, though. "The news" could also refer specifically to reports that Flynn had just registered as a foreign agent. So is this saying it was the first Pence was hearing of that specific news or the first Pence had heard of Flynn's ties to Turkey? I am seeking clarification.
Interesting that Pence is trying to stand his ground on this, when the ground he's standing on is less cohesive than quicksand. Whatever. Now to Whopper No. 2, that the firing of FBI Director James Comey had nothing whatsoever to do with the Trump-Russia investigation that Comey had days before asked the Department of Justice to increase the funding and resources on. Here's what Pence said.
“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 [of] this nation.”
“There is no evidence of collusion between our campaign and any Russian officials. That's not what — let me be clear with you — that was not what this is about. That's not what this is about.”
Trump said that the firing was indeed what "this is about," when he told NBC's Lester Holt, “When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story." Russia was clearly on Trump's mind. Here's what the Washington Post said:
Pence could argue that Trump technically did accept the recommendations of the Justice Department. But, again, that would be highly misleading, based on Trump's own comments that he had already made up his mind.
About the most charitable reading here is that Pence was delivering the White House's talking points before Trump lighted them on fire. But again, Pence is putting his credibility on the line when he offers X as the explanation rather than Y, and it turns out it was indeed Y. He signed up for this, and it's up to him to demand the truth from his boss before he goes out there to defend him.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, there's so much more. We all remember the Kaine/Pence debate where Kaine kept shooting down Pence's lies and then later a video tape was cobbled together showing all of the lies that Kaine cited linked with footage of Trump and Pence saying the very things that Mike Pence had so vociferously denied that they ever said. Here's a YouTube video if you missed it. What America learned then and what it should know very well now, is that Mike Pence has no problems whatsoever lying to our faces. None.
Finally, Politifact has been keeping track of Mike Pence's lies since 2009.
Here's a sample: Says President Donald Trump’s proposal to allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines would make it the same as "the way you buy car insurance" today. Politifact marks it False and then explains, "Mike Pence doesn't know how car insurance works."
The level of lying in the Trump administration is, to use that horrendously overworked word, “unprecedented.” The Los Angeles Times recently did an editorial, “Why Does Donald Trump Lie?” Here’s an excerpt:
Donald Trump did not invent the lie and is not even its master. Lies have oozed out of the White House for more than two centuries and out of politicians’ mouths — out of all people’s mouths — likely as long as there has been human speech.
But amid all those lies, told to ourselves and to one another in order to amass power, woo lovers, hurt enemies and shield ourselves against the often glaring discomfort of reality, humanity has always had an abiding respect for truth.
The insult that Donald Trump brings to the equation is an apparent disregard for fact so profound as to suggest that he may not see much practical distinction between lies, if he believes they serve him, and the truth.
His approach succeeds because of his preternaturally deft grasp of his audience. Though he is neither terribly articulate nor a seasoned politician, he has a remarkable instinct for discerning which conspiracy theories in which quasi-news source, or which of his own inner musings, will turn into ratings gold. He targets the darkness, anger and insecurity that hide in each of us and harnesses them for his own purposes. If one of his lies doesn’t work — well, then he lies about that.
Even American leaders who lie generally know the difference between their statements and the truth. Richard Nixon said “I am not a crook” but by that point must have seen that he was. Bill Clinton said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” but knew that he did.
Mike Pence knows that he’s lying too. Pence is dangerous and he's a lot more dangerous than Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin made a comment recently about American politicians who engage in anti-Russian rhetoric. Putin said, "Either they're totally stupid or they know what they're doing, and then they are dangerous and corrupt." Mike Pence knows exactly what he's doing and he is indeed dangerous and corrupt. There is no way that this man can be allowed to become President of the United States or we will be in a world of hurt that will make the rule of Donald Trump seem pallid by comparison.