Mike Pence Makes His Move

Mike Pence has been making moves to leverage Donald Trump's corruption into a Pence presidency since the moment Paul Manafort plucked him from his losing gubernatorial reelection bid in Indiana. But as some powerful Republicans signal that they have no more use for Trump's theatrics, Pence took a bold step this weekend, indicating that he is cooperating with Special Counsel Bob Mueller's investigation.

As I've noted many times previously, there has been no public disclosure about Pence working with Mueller, so the fact that Pence casually offered up this piece of information during the Sunday political news shows is significant.

Vice President Mike Pence said he would sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller if asked.

"I would. I would be more than willing to continue to provide any and all support in that," Pence said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation. "And we have outside counsel that will advise me accordingly."

..."He has not" asked for an interview, Pence said. "Although we've provided any and all information, and we'll continue to do that."

A couple of observations:

1. Pence is usually extremely cagey and does not volunteer extraneous information. He could have simply responded that he would be willing to sit down for an interview if asked, and that he has not been asked. But he additionally volunteered the information that he's been cooperating and that he will continue to cooperate. That sends a couple of important messages about which side he's on, in Trump vs. the traitors in his administration.

2. It's shocking that Mueller still has not asked Pence for an interview, given that Pence is not only the vice-president, but led the presidential transition, during which many of the things being investigated took place. That suggests either Mueller is totally incompetent — or Pence has freely given Mueller any- and everything he needs without necessitating a formal interview request.

3. I noted back in January that I thought Pence had long been cooperating secretly with federal investigators:

My speculative theory is that Pence, once he came aboard the Trump campaign, immediately saw evidence of their poorly concealed collusion with Russia and knew they would not get away with it. He also, however, knew that if he quit the campaign, his presidential ambitions were dead in the water. (Remember, he was about to lose the governorship in Indiana.) But he knew if he stayed with the campaign, he could go down with the rest of the rats.

So he decided to play both hands: Be Trump's running mate, and be Trump's betrayer. Trump would win unscathed, and take Pence one step closer to the presidency, or Trump would win (or lose) and find himself in the middle of an investigation, and Pence would feed the feds what they needed and take himself one step closer to the presidency.

If it were Pence, that would explain why there has been absolutely no indication that Bob Mueller is investigating Pence, and why Pence doesn't get but a passing mention in Michael Wolff's book.

Pence is not a patriot. He's just wildly ambitious — and undiluted conniving evil.

A guy who would do anything to be president. Including being Trump's veep. And possibly his foil.

Nine months ago, that may have seemed like a wildly far-fetched supposition. I daresay it does not look remotely so far-fetched anymore, based on the vice president's own words.

4. I have the same problem with Pence's machinations here as I do with the rest of the White House officials participating in Bob Woodward's book and announcing their coup in the New York Times and various other anti-democratic power plays.

Pence is an illiberal, authoritarian snake who isn't "resisting" Trump and participating with Mueller's investigation because he cares about this nation or its democratic institutions; it's because he cares about his own personal ambitions for the presidency more than anything else on the planet.

It's because he would like to be the one behind whom the Republican Party completes the consolidation of its power.

5. This was a very public betrayal of Donald Trump. For Pence to come out from behind his mask so brazenly and abruptly will surely shock Trump, because his colossal ego mistook Pence's gross obsequiousness for genuine loyalty.

Pence knew that. It was a move designed to jar Trump and isolate him even further. That will weaken Trump — which is good for these traitors, but terrible for everyone else, whose safety hangs in the balance as Trump becomes increasingly unstable as he's backed into a corner.

That tells you everything you need to know about Mike Pence, frankly. This disclosure was designed to do maximum damage to Trump, with zero regard for how rocking him might roil the rest of us.