Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191
Blue Wave Update
“A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI,” CNN reports.
“The FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house in Indiana.”
“The discovery comes after Pence has repeatedly said he did not have any classified documents in his possession.”
“Former Vice President Mike Pence sounded alarm about the growing populist strain gaining influence within the Republican party, urging the GOP to hold steadfast to its traditional values of small government and a robust national defense,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Pence: “Our movement cannot forsake the foundational commitment that we have to security, to limited government, to liberty and to life. But nor can we allow our movement to be led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that’s unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence will join Fox & Friends for an interview on Friday morning, his first national TV appearance in nearly a year.
Former Vice President Mike Pence will give his first major speech in front of hundreds of South Carolina conservatives in Columbia next month in what could be his first potential 2024 Republican presidential primary test, the Columbia State reports.
Former Vice President Mike Pence underwent surgery to have a pacemaker implanted after experiencing “symptoms associated with a slow heart rate,” CNBC reports.
“Mike Pence has signed a multimillion-dollar, two-book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster, making him one of the first alums of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle to ink such a lucrative contract,” CNN reports.
“Two people in the publishing industry tell CNN the former vice president’s deal is worth seven figures, somewhere in the range of $3 million to $4 million.”
“Lawyers representing Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Arizona’s 11 GOP electors disclosed in a court filing Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence rejected their request to join their attempt to subvert the results of the presidential election,” The Hill reports.
ProPublica: “Decisions about U.S. aid are often no longer being governed by career professionals applying a rigorous review of applicants and their capabilities. Over the last two years, political pressure, particularly from the office of Vice President Mike Pence, had seeped into aid deliberations and convinced key decision-makers that unless they fell in line, their jobs could be at stake.”
Vice President Mike Pence offered a full-throated defense of President Trump’s call for an investigation into Joe Biden and his son’s dealings with Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Said Pence: “My predecessor had a son who was paid $50,000 a month to be on a Ukrainian board at the time that Vice President Biden was leading the Obama administration’s efforts in Ukraine, I think that is worth looking into.”
Pence also took aim at Democrats generally for what he termed as “endless investigations” of Trump.
“Mike Pence privately counseled President Trump against releasing the rough transcript of the president’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart, but eventually sided with others in the White House arguing in favor of its release,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The vice president raised concerns about the precedent the release would set, but ultimately fell in line behind Trump, who felt he had no choice but to release it. Trump told aides he felt the messaging had gotten away from the White House and that releasing the document was his only option in the battle for public opinion.”
President Trump on Wednesday denied any involvement in Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to stay at the president’s property in Doonbeg, Ireland, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I had no involvement, other than it’s a great place I heard he was going there, but it wasn’t my idea for Mike to go there. Mike went there because his family’s there. That’s my understanding of it.”
Axios reporter Jonathan Swan told MSNBC that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have discussed the possibility of replacing Vice President Mike Pence with Nikki Haley on the 2020 Republican ticket.
Said Swan: “Certainly, there have been a number of people telling people in the White House, including the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump, that Nikki Haley would be a politically smart choice to replace Pence. So this is partly why a lot of these rumors have been circulating.”
“When top Republicans convened at the St. Regis resort in Aspen, Colo. last month for an exclusive donor retreat, several attendees said there was palpable tension in the room as the gathering’s two headliners prepared to speak: Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley,” Politico reports.
“The assembled group of governors, high-dollar donors, and operatives were well aware that the two have big ambitions; to some it seemed as if Pence and Haley, who spoke on back-to-back days, were vying for their attention. Some in the audience found themselves parsing and comparing the two speeches and buzzed they were getting a sneak preview of a 2024 Republican primary. Others recalled something peculiar: Neither Pence nor Haley acknowledged each other in their presentations, even though they gave shout-outs to others attending the retreat.”
“Spend more time on your knees than on the Internet.”
— Vice president Mike Pence, quoted by the Washington Times, on how he deals with political criticism.
Vice President Mike Pence “doesn’t appear to own a home and hasn’t saved much for retirement, yet he’s a millionaire thanks to his government pensions. A career politician with little notable experience in the private sector, Pence is entitled to at least $85,000 per year for the rest of his life,” Forbes reports.
Vice President Mike Pence vetoed the Donald Trump’s pick for a federal judge nominee because he feared the nomination would bring up events from the past that could damage his reputation, Politico reports.
“The clash provides a rare glimpse into the vice president’s political calculations and ambitions, which he has been excruciatingly careful to conceal since signing on to the Trump ticket in the summer of 2016.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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