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Pence Used Personal Email for State Business

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Vice President Mike Pence “routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

“Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges.”

Trump Reaches Deal to Save 1,000 Indiana Jobs

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“Carrier Corp. has reached an agreement with President-elect Donald Trump to keep ‘close to 1,000 jobs’ in the city, scrapping a plan to shift all of its Indianapolis operations to Mexico. The heating and air conditioning giant confirmed the agreement on Twitter, but did not provide details,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

“Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are scheduled to appear in the city Thursday for a formal announcement, according to a transition official who requested anonymity.”

Pence Now Arguing for Email Secrecy

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Indianapolis Star: “Now that the presidential campaign and most of the furor over Hillary Clinton’s email scandal are behind us, the Pence administration is going to court to argue for its own brand of email secrecy. The administration is fighting to conceal the contents of an email sent to Gov. Mike Pence by a political ally. That email is being sought by a prominent Democratic labor lawyer who says he wants to expose waste in the Republican administration.”

“But legal experts fear the stakes may be much higher than mere politics because the decision could remove a judicial branch check on executive power and limit a citizen’s right to know what the government is doing and how it spends taxpayer dollars.


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Indiana Primary Results

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Donald Trump has won the Republican primary in Indiana, dealing a crushing defeat to Ted Cruz and putting himself on a clear path to clinching the nomination.

Following his loss, Cruz dropped out of the presidential race.

John Kasich, however, pledged to stay in the race until a candidate reaches 1,237 delegates.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton.

Cruz Desperate for Win In Indiana

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Washington Post: “Cruz came to Indiana to try to resuscitate his flagging campaign at a pivotal moment in the Republican presidential race. But with just one day of campaigning left until Tuesday’s vote — and after a series of desperation measures — the freshman senator from Texas is on the verge of a defeat that would ravage his campaign and raise new questions about whether his mission to stop the mogul has become futile.”

“An NBC News-Wall Street Journal-Marist poll released Sunday showed Trump leading Cruz by 15 points in Indiana. Other recent public polls have shown Trump leading by narrower margins.”

Trump Suggests Pence Doesn’t Really Like Cruz

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Donald Trump shrugged off Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s endorsement of rival Ted Cruz, arguing that Pence wasn’t all that enthusiastic about backing the Texas senator, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “A lot of pressure was put on him by his donors, and he had to do it. But he was nicer to me. I mean, everyone thought he gave me the endorsement because he started off ‘Donald Trump, I really want to thank him,’ and then he finished with me. And somewhere in between, he said he’ll vote for Cruz.”

He added: “But you could see that was not a real loving endorsement.”

Cruz Insiders No Longer Confident They Can Win

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Politico: “In interviews, several aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed growing alarm that Cruz would lose Indiana’s primary on Tuesday — an outcome that would be a major blow to his hopes of holding Trump below the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination on the party convention’s first ballot. The aides concede that, without a win in an Indiana primary where 57 delegates are at stake, Cruz’s shot at the nomination would significantly narrow.”

“And while the Texas senator has closed the gap in Indiana in recent days, he still trails Trump and his decision to tap Carly Fiorina as a running mate has provided only a modest boost in the state, according to sources familiar with the campaign’s internal deliberations.”

Trump Can Win Without Indiana

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This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Although much has been made about next week’s Indiana primary, Donald Trump now has a clear shot at winning 1,237 delegates even if he does not prevail in the Hoosier State.

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Kasich Campaigns in Indiana Despite Pact

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“So much for John Kasich’s promise to give rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ‘a clear path in Indiana,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Ohio governor cancelled some public events after striking a deal with Mr. Cruz to cede certain states to each other, but Mr. Kasich still met privately Tuesday in Indianapolis with about two dozen convention delegates and other prominent Republicans. He also attended two fundraisers.”

Where Is Mike Pence?

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National Review: “The Indiana governor may not have been abducted, but he’s certainly missing in action on the central question facing the Republican party: Are you with Trump, or against him?”

“Pence is hardly alone on the sidelines, of course. But the crowd of wet-fingered politicians trying to determine which way the wind is blowing doesn’t matter. Pence does. If Donald Trump loses the May 3 Indiana primary, it is all but certain he will fall short of the 1,237 delegates necessary to win the nomination on the first ballot. Indiana is now the Gates of Vienna for stopping the Trumpian takeover of the GOP.”

Trump Steps Up Efforts In Indiana

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Politico: “The frugal Manhattan mogul has begun opening his wallet for the air war, spending more than $900,000 on TV and radio ads. He’s working the inside game, wooing Gov. Mike Pence one-on-one in what multiple Indiana insiders said appears to have been a successful effort to keep the governor on the endorsement sidelines. And Trump’s new campaign strategist Paul Manafort has been telling Republican officials, multiple people told POLITICO, that Trump is in the midst of doubling the ground team there, with plans to balloon his in-state operation to 40 people.”

“The sudden infusion of operatives, cash and attention is a sign of Indiana’s fulcrum position in the Republican primary fight. Trump can’t win the nomination there. But it’s where he could lose it.”

Stopping Trump May Depend on Indiana

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“Donald Trump is poised to sweep five states’ Republican primaries on the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday, but his rivals are already looking ahead to next week’s contest in Indiana, which may be their last chance to keep Mr. Trump from clinching the party’s presidential nomination,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“It is a must-win state for anti-Trump forces. If Mr. Trump wins in Indiana after his expected victories on Tuesday, it will be much harder for his rivals to keep him from garnering the 1,237 pledged delegates he needs to win the Republican presidential nomination.”

Indiana Has Been Voting for 3 Weeks Already

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The Lid: “According to the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, more than 60,000 Republican primary ballots had already been requested by Friday, before Kasich announced that he would not be campaigning in the state. That’s twice the equivalent GOP ballot requests at this time in 2012. Combine that with the fact that a) Kasich is still on the ballot and b) he actively said today that he still wants Indiana voters to support him, and we could have a recipe for a vote that is still majorly split in the Hoosier State, regardless of what the non-Trump candidates have to say about it.”

Indiana May Be Last Stand for Anti-Trump Forces

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Washington Post: “With Trump poised to rack up more delegates in five Northeastern states on Tuesday, Indiana’s May 3 primary a week later is shaping up as a must-win for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is attempting to win enough delegates to force a contested Republican convention. It also is one of the last, best chances for outside forces helping Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to slow the GOP front-runner.”

“As they have been in other states, the anti-Trump groups here are riven by divisions over strategy and tactics and limited in their financial resources. Indiana marks at least the fifth contest that opponents have declared as the moment to stop Trump, from the Iowa caucuses in February to the Wisconsin primary this month.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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