Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:24 am
The White House appears to be in total denial about the severity of the Russia scandal, as Vice President Mike Pence called his move to hire a criminal defense attorney very routine.
According to the press pool report as provided to PoliticusUSA:
During a visit to Dominoes Park in Little Havana, your pooler asked Vice President Pence if he had any comment about hiring his own counsel. Pence replied: “It’s very routine. Very routine.”
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When he was vice president, Joe Biden hired zero criminal defense attorneys to represent him. Records show that former vice president Dick Cheney hired a lawyer during the Valerie Plame investigation. Al Gore hired private lawyers, but those attorneys were not described as criminal defense lawyers when Gore’s fundraising was being investigated in 1997. Recent vice presidents may have retained representation, with the exception of Biden, but hiring a criminal defense lawyer is not routine.
Vice Presidents don’t hire criminal defense lawyers to represent them every day. The Trump White House keeps trying to tell America that there is nothing to see here, but it is impossible to ignore that there is a whole lot of unusual activity going on.
As the head of the transition team, Pence is a key figure in at least the Mike Flynn part of the Russia scandal. If Pence were innocent, he wouldn’t need a lawyer, and if the Vice President didn’t think that any crimes were committed, he wouldn’t need a criminal defense attorney.
The Russia scandal can’t be swept under the rug.
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
