For those who are worried that if Trump goes down for the Russia scandal, Vice President Mike Pence will be in charge, keep in mind that Pence in was in charge of the transition that never vetted Mike Flynn. The entire Trump administration is knee deep in the Russia scandal.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer admitted that Pence and the transition never vetted Flynn before naming him as Trump’s national security adviser:
Every individual who came into this White House either applied for a security clearance or had one. Everyone in the government goes through the same SF-86 process — every single person. And so why would you re-run a background check on someone who was the head of the department — the Defense Intelligence Agency that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance? That’s it.
There’s no difference between administrations — when you come in from one, they rerun it. The reason they grant them for five years is that it’s a very extensive background where they check your contacts, your places of residence, your employment. They go out into the field, they do a lot of that work, and then you’re required to maintain updates to that clearance. They re-adjudicate it every five years. That occurred in this case. And now the Department of Defense’s Inspector General is looking into it.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Guess who was running the transition? Vice President Mike Pence.
If the transition didn’t vet Flynn, that is on Pence. No one in the Trump administration is clean on the Russia scandal. When it all finally blows up on this White House, Mike Pence is not going to emerge unscathed. The Mike Pence part of the White House’s story on Flynn and Russia has never made sense.
The reason why is because this White House has left out key details about how involved Pence was, but slowly, little by little, the details are coming out, and they are going to be a big problem for Mike Pence.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
