Pence publicly insisted the Trump campaign wasn’t in contact with Russia. That’s now a big problem.

Aaron Rupar/Think Progress

On January 15, then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence went on Fox News and was asked by Chris Wallace whether there had been communication between the Trump campaign and Russian officials before the election.

“Of course not,” Pence replied. “Chris, this is all a distraction and it’s all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and question the legitimacy of this presidency. The American people see right through it.”

On the same day, Pence went on CBS and was again asked about whether the Trump campaign had been in touch with Russian officials.

“Of course not,” Pence replied. “I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.”

Two new reports contradict what Pence said during those interviews. On Tuesday night, CNN reported that “high-level advisers close to then-presidential nominee Donald Trump were in constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to US intelligence.” The report cites “multiple current and former intelligence, law enforcement and administration officials.”

The story was also reported by the New York Times.

“Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials,” the Times reports.

While it remains unclear why Trump’s advisers and associates were in touch with Russian intelligence before the election, the CNN and NYT reports are the strongest indication yet that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials. The U.S. intelligence community has already made public its findings that Russia used cyberattacks and other methods to meddle in the election on behalf of Trump.

Five days before Pence did the aforementioned TV interviews, news emerged of an unconfirmed intelligence dossier containing allegations that Russian officials are in possession of compromising information about Trump and his campaign. We know now that some of “conversations between foreign nationals” detailed in the dossier have been confirmed.

Also in the news in mid-January were communications Michael Flynn, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, had with the Russian ambassador in late December, including on the day the Obama administration imposed new sanctions on Russia for the election meddling.

Pence told Wallace that Flynn and the ambassador “did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”

We now know Pence spoke falsely on this topic. Flynn and the ambassador did indeed talk about sanctions, and their conversations “were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reportedon February 9.

Though the White House was informed by the Justice Department that Flynn talked about sanctions with the Russian ambassador late last month, the Post reported that Pence didn’t learn that Flynn misled him about his communications until February 9, “a full two weeks after other White House officials were briefed on the matter, an aide to Pence said on Tuesday.”

On Wednesday morning, Trump responded to the bombshell CNN and NYT reports not by questioning their accuracy, but by blasting the sort of leaks he said he loved during the campaign’s closing weeks.

Flynn may have misled Pence about his communications with the Russian ambassador, but the White House hasn’t yet offered an explanation for the contradiction between what Pence repeatedly said about the lack of contact between the Trump campaign and Russia and what the new reports indicate about their “constant contact.”

---

UPDATE (2/15/17, 11:15 a.m.): During his press conference on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer characterized Flynn’s communications with the Russian ambassador as an “isolated incident” — a claim contradicted by reports of “constant contact” between Russian officials and the Trump campaign that broke hours later.

During the presser, a reporter asked Spicer, “is the administration undertaking any sort of effort… to make sure that everyone comes forward who had any communications with the Russians about sanctions or otherwise?”

In response, Spicer suggested such an effort is unnecessary.

“As far as we are aware, that is an isolated incident that occurred,” he said.

Pence Lets Truth Slip On Uncompromising Stance: ‘We’re Trying To Score A Victory For The Republican People’

By Zaid Jilani

The federal government appears to be hurtling towards a shutdown following the inability of congressional negotiators to reach a compromise last night on a continuing resolution. New polling finds that most Americans want their leaders to reach a negotiated agreement rather than stake out their respective positions. Polls fromGallup and the Wall Street Journal/NBC News find that self-identified Democrats and independents want leaders to compromise while self-identified Republicans would rather see the government shut down than compromise.

Last night, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) appeared on Fox News to explain his uncompromising position over funding the federal government. At one point, Pence appeared to let the truth slip out about the true aims of Republican negotiators, telling host Greta Van Susteren that what Republicans are trying to do is score a victory for “the Republican people.” Soon after realizing that he said that out loud, he backtracked, saying that he wants to score a victory for “the American people,” not the Republican Party:

PENCE: Well, I don’t know if we’re checkmating. But we’re trying — we’re trying to score a victory for the Republican people, for — for the American — for the Republican people — trying to score a victory for the American people, not for the Republican Party. That victory is going to come in stages here.

Watch it:

Yesterday, Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), who is caught between the demands of Tea Party Republicans and the Republican establishment, said that if the government does shut down, that members of Congress should not be able to draw paychecks. “Members of Congress are elected by their constituents. If there is a government shutdown not only will Congress not be paid, but federal employees will not be paid,” he said.

Pence Prioritizes Tax Breaks For Millionaires Over Extending Unemployment Benefits

By Pat Garofalo

At 12 a.m. this morning, extended unemployment benefits officially expired, meaning that 2.5 million Americans will see their benefits disappear by the end of the month. This will not only hurt the individual families — while unemployment is still above nine percent and there are five job seekers for every job opening — but will also harm the wider economy. Economists estimate that allowing benefits to expire could cause economic growth to “fall by one half to nearly 1 percentage point,” as well as throw hundreds of thousands of people into poverty.

Cutting off benefits will also negatively affect small businesses, because, as MarketPlace noted, “when unemployment checks stop, it’s felt right away by businesses like gas stations, apartment operators, and grocery stores.” But Republicans in Congress have been screaming that the country can’t afford to extend benefits unless they are offset with spending cuts elsewhere.

Of course, these same Republicans have no problem extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy without corresponding spending cuts. And today, on MSNBC, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — who has been serving as House Republican Conference chairman and is being touted as a possible 2012 Presidential nominee — twice refused to endorse extending unemployment benefits if it meant that taxes went up on only millionaires:

HALPERIN: If your leaders came to you and said ‘we have a deal with the White House. We’re going to extend unemployment benefits but the tax cuts for people making over a million dollars a year will not be extended, but that helps to pay for it,’ would you take that deal? Would you vote for that package?

PENCE: Look, I think the worst thing you could do for people that are struggling in this economy and looking for a job is raise taxes on any American. We don’t want to help with one hand and take away with the other.

HALPERIN: So would rather extend the tax cuts for every American, including those making over a million, or have the unemployment benefits extended, if that’s the choice?

PENCE: This isn’t a corner, but I feel the paint. I’m good. Nice move. I played chess with my son the other day and I lost, so I’m not good at this chess thing. Let me tell you, I think the minimum we have to do for Americans right now that are struggling in unemployment in this economy is make sure no American sees a tax increase.

Watch it:

As The Wonk Room pointed out, the average millionaire will receive $103,809 in tax breaks next year if the Bush tax cuts are extended. Unemployment benefits, meanwhile, average about $290 per week.

After Promising To ‘Listen To The American People,’ Pence Rejects Americans’ Call To Not Cut Social Programs

By Ben Armbruster

This week on CNN, host Wolf Blitzer confronted Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) with a recent poll that found Americans don’t want to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and wondered why Schock — who has made both extending all the tax cuts and listening to the American people a priority — isn’t exactly listening to what they want. But Schock simply ignored the poll, saying, “The American people reject” letting the tax cuts expire for the wealthy.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) got caught playing a similar game yesterday, also on CNN with Blitzer. Pence — who has also made listening to the American people a priority — argued that in order to reduce the deficit, the government should cut spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. But when Blitzer told Pence that a recent poll showed that Americans don’t want cuts to those programs, the Indiana congressman pulled a Schock:

PENCE: Well, I don’t know if they’re saying don’t touch it. I think they’re saying for people who are on Medicare and Social Security or depending on Medicaid today, let’s keep the promises we’ve made to seniors.

To his credit, Pence did say that cuts in defense spending should be on the table as well, but he also argued that Social Security should be revamped for those under 40 years old — an age that conveniently leaves Pence out of any potential changes to the popular social program. Watch it:

Indeed, as Blitzer noted, according to a new CNN poll, while Americans do want to reduce the deficit, employing significant cuts in social programs to do it is very unpopular:

For most of the government programs tested in the poll, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, college loans, and aid to farmers and unemployed workers, Americans say that avoiding significant spending cuts is more important than reducing the deficit.

“Many of the budget cuts proposed last week by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, who are heading up a presidential commission on deficit reduction, appear to be highly unpopular, including changes to Social Security and the federal tax code,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “The public opposition to some of the proposals made by Simpson and Bowles illustrates what a hard sell spending cuts will be.”

Pence Admits The GOP’s ‘Pledge’ Is ‘Not Necessarily New’

By Alex Seitz-Wald House Republicans’ gimmicky new “Pledge to America” repeatedly refers to itself — including on its cover page — as a “new governing agenda” to “set a different course” for the country. Nonetheless, it has come under withering criticism from right, left, and center for being little more than regurgitated rhetoric and repackaged failed GOP ideas. While Republican leaders have tried to sell the originality of the proposal, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — the number three House Republican — couldn’t seem to decide whether his party’s Pledge was new or old yesterday during an appearance on Meet the Press. At first, he insisted that the Pledge does indeed have “new ideas.” But just moments later, after being pushed by host David Gregory, Pence admitted, “What we have in this proposal is not necessarily new“: GREGORY: And one of the big issues if you go back even to interviews I’ve done with Republican leaders after the election of President Obama was that this wanted to be the party of new ideas. … So what’s new here? PENCE: Well, ending bailouts and cutting spending in Washington, D.C. is a new idea, david! And the truth is, look, Republicans didn’t lose our majority in 2006, we lost our way. We walked away from the principles of fiscal discipline and reform that minted our governing majority back in 1980 and again in 1994. And the american people walked away from us. What we have in this proposal is not necessarily new — the idea of fiscal responsibility, pro growth policies, openness and transparency in government are solid american ideas. What Republicans are committing to in the pledge for america is taking important first steps in this congress to steer our national government back to the basic practices. Watch it: As for new ideas, Pence’s citation of “ending bailouts and cutting spending” is pretty pathetic. Of course, cutting spending is not a new idea — the GOP’s own website proudly states that “reducing the size of government” was “adopted early on” by the party. And as a Roll Call analysis published today found, the rest of the Pledge is equally recycled. The Pledge was supposed to be the product of a website House Republicans created to listen to the American peoples’ new ideas called America Speaking Out. However, Roll Call found that “only one provision [in the Pledge] appears to have come solely from that effort.” The rest of the proposals “already existed as a part of other House Republican initiatives or as bills offered by individual Members months before the website was launched,” the Capitol Hill newspaper continued. Less than a week after its big roll-out, the narrative of the Pledge as a bold new policy vision appears to be collapsing — even in the minds of Republican leaders. Yesterday, House Minority Leader John Boehner said the Pledge is not “about potential solutions,” but rather just serves to highlight the problems, while Pence admitted it is “not necessarily new.” Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), who is the deputy chairman of the America Speaking Out project, went even further when confronted with the Roll Call analysis, saying, “Let’s face it, none of these topics are new topics.”

Pence Can’t Think Of Any GOP Ideas That Are Different From Bush, Says Simply: We Are ‘Pro-Growth’

By Ben Armbruster

Yesterday at a fundraiser in Atlanta, President Obama took a jab at Republicans for failing to break away from President Bush and trying to “bamboozle” the American public. “It’s not like they’ve engaged in some heavy reflection,” he said. “They have not come up with a single, solitary, new idea to address the challenges of the American people. They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas – not one.”

Today on MSNBC, when host Joe Scarborough asked Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to differentiate today’s GOP from Bush, Pence couldn’t offer much in the way of specifics:

SCARBOROUGH: Give Americans listening to you today a vision for America that is different from the vision that George W. Bush had for America because their argument is you guys are all just George Bush clones.

PENCE: … The vision for Republicans going forward is to produce pro-growth tax policies that will get this economy moving again. But to really practice what we preach about fiscal discipline and entitlement reform. … We can have pro-growth tax relief going forward but we’ve got to get back to basic spending discipline and the principles of limited government.

Despite Pence’s generalizations of “fiscal discipline,” Scarborough seemed convinced. “That is a radical difference from what Republicans did from 2001 to 2008,” he said. Watch it:

For starters, like Pence, President Bush was also good at delivering similar sweeping, non-specific rhetoric:

– “I also had a good discussion today…about how we can kind of get away from all the distractions that tend to dominate Washington and focus on a pro-growth agenda for this fall.” [9/07/01]

– “Social Security reform, entitlement reform is an important topic.” [10/16/04]

– “You have to have some fiscal discipline if you want to balance the federal budget, and that’s what I’m asking Congress to do.” [2/06/07]

Moreover, a new CAPAF report out today notes that the GOP agenda out of the Republican Study Committee — of which Pence is a member — is a mirror image of the Bush years. Their “Economic Freedom Act” calls for more deficit funded tax cuts and will cost a whopping $10 trillion and their ideas to pay for it will cover less than 5 percent of the total cost. Sixty-one percent of the tax benefits will go to the richest 1 percent of households while the average middle-class tax payer’s tax cut will be paltry in comparison to the richest one pecent.

Writing in the New York Times today, David Stockman, President Reagan’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, agrees. “If there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing,” he said.

As the President noted yesterday, the reality is that Republicans have yet to come up with a “single idea” that is different from Bush and as demonstrated by Pence’s comments this morning, they’re having a hard time disproving that.

After Calling Self-Executing Rule Unconstitutional, Pence Admits He Previously Voted For It

By Ben Armbruster Last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) stirred faux outrage over the House Democrats’ plan to use a “self-executing rule” to pass the Senate health care reform bill, saying Americans would “have standing to sue against” the bill and that it’s “breathtakingly unconstitutional.” The claim has now turned into the latest fact-free GOP talking point to try to kill reform; Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) picked up on the theme yesterday. “It really tramples on the Constitution of the United States,” he said on the House floor.

Today, the Daily Caller’s Jon Ward asked Pence if it was “correct” to call the rule “unconstitutional.” “Well I think it’s probably unconstitutional,” he said, adding, “My background in law and constitutional issues suggests to me it’s unconstitutional.” But later in the interview, Pence admitted that he had voted for self-executing rules in the past:

THE DAILY CALLER: My question is, though, that Democrats say you voted for self-executing rules yourself on three occasions.

PENCE: Yeah, sure.

Pence said those votes were different because, he claims, the House is passing the Senate bill without technically voting on it. “The Senate bill has never passed the House.” Later, Pence admitted that the House wouldn’t actually be voting on the bill anyway:

THE DAILY CALLER: So procedurally they’re not voting for the Senate bill, and I understand your point about how legislation of this magnitude has never been passed, but for all practical purposes won’t it still be considered a vote for the Senate bill, a vote for reconciliation?

PENCE: I don’t think so.

Pence then became confused. “If you say that you don’t think this will be perceived as a vote for the Senate bill, you can’t go out and run ads against House Democrats saying they voted for health care,” the Daily Caller noted. “You lost me on that one,” Pence replied. “What do you mean?”

This morning on ABC, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) admitted that the self-executing rule is legal and has been used many times — even by Republicans — in the past. “The rules of the House allow for this type of deeming provision, it’s called a self-executing provision which means that once the bill, the rule for the next bill passes, the Senate bill is automatically is deemed as having passed,” he said.