Pence, he did a telling about-face, going from a previous definitive statement that there was “no evidence of collusion” to a more mealy-mouthed claim that he was “not aware” of any such contact or collusion.
.. Pence was in the Oval Office, alongside White House counsel Don McGahn, when Trump handed out copies of the letter he drafted with his adviser Stephen Miller that ordered Comey’s firing.
.. McGahn’s concerns, the Times states, “show how much he realized that the president’s rationale for firing Mr. Comey might not hold up to scrutiny.”
And Pence, belying his past statements, was right there beside them as the letter was debated and those crucial concerns were raised.
.. Thus, not only is Pence caught out in more dishonesty, he may also be implicated in obstruction of justice
.. it was read in a room of people, including Vice President Pence. And when that letter was read, it had, quote, the New York Times talks about a “screed,” and it identified all of these other connections to the Russian probe for why Trump had decided to fire Jim Comey.
.. Then after this letter is edited, Mike Pence then tells the media that the Comey firing was not connected to the Russian probe, and he said it was due to Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation. Those are untrue. Those statements are untrue, and it implicates Mike Pence now in a combination of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, and also a relatively less known felony called misprision of a felony, which is 18 U.S.C. Section 4, and it’s when one has knowledge of a felony and if one conceals and does not make it known to the legal authorities, one can be guilty of misprision of a felony.
.. And also, let’s keep in mind that the Nixon articles of impeachment included a provision blaming Nixon for misleading or false statements to the public. Now, that’s not a felony, but it was grounds for impeaching President Nixon. It may be grounds for an impeachment of Vice President Pence.
Why in the world would Donald Trump Jr. take this meeting?
federal election law prohibits soliciting or accepting “anything of value … in connection with” an election from a foreign national.
.. Trump Jr.’s false and misleading statements on his involvement with Russians add to the argument that this is a man behaving as if he had something to hide. Asked by the New York Times in March whether he had ever discussed “government policies related to Russia,” Trump Jr. replied, “a hundred percent no.” Then, confronted by the Times about the Veselnitskaya meeting, he first said the participants “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children,” before acknowledging, the next day, that in fact it concerned opposition research on Clinton.
H.R. McMaster Issues Misleading Denial About Trump’s Disclosure to Russians
It didn’t take long to stress-test the putative denial and see what it didn’t say. The caveat “as reported” left McMaster space to quibble with the details of the story without contradicting the big picture. Meanwhile, his statement that Trump never discussed sources or methods or unknown military operations was beside the point, since the Post hadn’t said he did. McMaster was denying a story that didn’t exist.
Post reporter Greg Miller went on CNN, where he accused the White House of “playing word games.”
Gallup: One Third of Households Victimized by Violent Crime in Past Year
Nearly one-third of U.S. households (29 percent) contain a family member victimized by violent crime in the last year, according to Gallup.
The survey reveals that Americans’ “direct experience” with crime is at a 16-year high.
Seventeen percent said they or someone in their home had money or property stolen, while 14 percent said they had property, including their home or vehicle, vandalized. Another five percent said they had their car broken into and four percent said they or someone in their household had a car stolen from them.
Three percent said someone in their household was assaulted or mugged; two percent said a member of their household was a victim of armed robbery; one percent cited sexual assault.