Since they cannot possibly blame their savior, President Donald Trump, many right-wingers inside the Republican Party are now saying that Vice President Mike Pence may have caused the entire Mueller probe which looked into connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
As Christian Vanderbrouk notes in The Bulwark, Pence has a lot to answer for, and it could indeed be said that actions he took did indeed precipitate the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel:
“The report of special counsel Robert Mueller is a wild card, presenting Washington with a unique and unpredictable moment. And as the House of Representatives launches investigations that will take us through the spring and summer — possibly leading to impeachment proceedings in the fall — the vice president will find himself in a peculiar, even dangerous, position.”
Here’s where things get very troublesome for Pence. He was the one who urged Trump to fire then-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, whom the VP accused of having lied to him about money he took from both Russia and Turkey.
Pence’s chief of staff at the time was a man named Joshua Pitcock. Pitcock’s wife, Katie, was at the time working for as an FBI analyst. And as the tinfoil hat wearing hardcore Trumper’s have always maintained, it was the FBI that targeted Trump and attempted to take him down via a “coup.” Hell, even Trump has used that language to describe the Mueller probe.
All of these connections have led to an outpouring of suspicion against Pence on social media:
So is VP Pence denying that he knew his chief of staff was married to Peter Strozk's assistant? Or is he denying that his aide set up the meeting with McCabe with doctored 302s that led to Flynn's ouster? Or both? https://t.co/VVGnq39jy9
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) April 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1121844586366865410
But it gets even worse for Pence, who was also mentioned by WIkiLeaks founder Julian Assange as possibly being in on the plan to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment as early as 2017:
“Clinton stated privately this month that she is quietly pushing for a Pence takeover. She stated that Pence is predictable hence defeatable.
“Two IC officials close to Pence stated privately this month that they are planning on a Pence takeover. Did not state if Pence agrees.”
All of this could wind up getting Pence dropped from the ticket, especially if media figures like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity start beating the drum and saying Pence is culpable for Mueller’s appointment.
Imagine if Mike Pence becomes the “Deep State’ bogeyman in the entire Russia investigation. Even if he doesn’t wind up being kicked off the 2020 ticket, his proximity to Trump has made him damaged goods and all but guarantees he has no political future whatsoever.