Former Vice President Mike Pence said he would comply with the law if he were compelled to testify in former President Donald Trump’s trial in the 2020 election case.
he says that now… when the time comes, however, exactly what will his “compliance” look like?
sure, I believe he’d show up, but I also believe he’ll give mostly equivocations, pleas to the 5th, non-remembrances, and non-answer answers that mostly cover his own ass and deflect blame from the GOP than testimony that would give any real insight into or damning evidence against Trump or his co-conspirators.
If Pence had any desire to serve justice, he would have done so long, long ago.
he’ll give mostly equivocations, pleas to the 5th, non-remembrances, and non-answer answers that mostly cover his own ass and deflect blame from the GOP th
That’s certainly what he’s done in the media, but I’m not so sure that’s how he’ll respond when 1) he’s answering narrow questions crafted by an experienced attorney and 2) he’s answering questions after having sworn to God that he would tell the truth
his displayed pattern of behavior for the past several decades has been a hateful, self-serving scumbag. why would that suddenly change now?
The question is, is that hate and self serving aimed at trump now?
this is my take on what’s happening with him now: it’s political posturing. he knows he’s likely to be called at least for a deposition, and he’s getting in front of the media coverage by offering, or, at least, by saying he’d be cooperative. now, to a public audience, that can mean whatever we want it to mean, and to his base, that means he’s an angel who did nothing wrong, a patriot deserving of their vote. because he’s a law-abiding victim!
to the discerning listener, it’s a cover-his-ass declaration meaning nothing much now and whatever he wants it to mean later, especially if he changes his mind, as the legal and media landscape remains fluid between now and then. what will actually transpire? we’ll have to wait and see.
Agreed
the traitor also swore on the bible hed uphold the constitution from all enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC
What could he have done?
He seems like a straight guy in every sense of the word. I vehemently disagree with his politics but I am sure that he will testify truthfully.
That’s a tough one. The guy is such a scumbag, but repeatedly telling trump no and refusing to be above the law was a huge thing. I actually respect him for doing that.
Is he 100% off the trump train? Is it enough so he won’t hold back? Hopefully his sense of honor for the country he seems to have will be strong enough to not hand waive things away.
refusing to break the law wasn’t a pious act— he just didn’t want to face the consequences. I think he might have if he thought he could get away with it. I just don’t think he’s as stupid or delusional as Trump, et al.
Nobody is saying that his act is pious. But saying that he will act as the other crazies is inaccurate.
And I don’t even like the guy!
oh, no, I think you’re misunderstanding me— or maybe I should explain better. Pence certainly wound’t do any of this to help them but to help himself. I don’t think we can ever entirely know his motivations but can only approximate or triangulate them based on his past/current behaviors. Pence is a tremendously selfish and self-motivated person driven almost entirely by his own self-interest. He only seems to do anything at all if he thinks he can personally benefit— and, likewise, would not do something if it would be to his detriment.
So, if he does something like the other nutbags, their motivations wouldn’t be the same, just that he thought he could get something out of it. Likewise, he didn’t participate in the vote delegate bullshit Trump asked him to, not because he “believes in democracy” or the constitutional rule of law/transfer of power— it’s because he knew it was a harebrained scheme that would never work, and they’d all end up in jail or worse.
turns out it was the right decision.
Understood. Again, I don’t like the guy, but the way you describe things, well, sounds typical of the average politician.
(Republicans like Boebert, Gaetz, etc are not the average politicians. They’re way, way, way below that.)
Your average, Republican politician, perhaps… 
Thing is, I’m discussing an explanation for Pence’s behavior based on his specific past behavior in specific, rather unique situations. You’re offering a broad opinion based on a speculation of politicians in general. There’s a difference. 
He ain’t no angel, like I said the guy is a scumbag. But he could have easily gone along with trump at any time, he chose not to. That seems to be extremely rare for people around trump to do.
I think you might be right in your last sentence. That’s probably the defining attribute in play.
as I’ve said elsewhere, Pence didn’t go along with Trump because he’s not insane or an idiot. He knew better and is (and always has been) only in it of himself. It didn’t serve his interests and he has no real interest in helping Trump, and he knew it wouldn’t work and would land him in forever prison. It had nothing to do with doing the right thing.
Oh I agree with you on that.
It’s going to be either really interesting if/when he takes the stand, or a complete waste of time.
I believe it would be a waste of time and all for show. if Smith truly believe he can get anything of value from Pence, he’ll depose him and offer that as evidence.
For a start he could have testified to the Jan 6th House Select Committee…
but I am sure that he will testify truthfully.
I never said that I expect he’d commit perjury
edit to clarify: I don believe pence would be dishonest, just unhelpful. I believe his appearance on the stand would be purely political posturing.
You didn’t, but you put him in the same lump as Gaetz, McConnell or that woman who I refuse to name.
oh, I’d expect Gaetz to outright lie on the stand, and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s done it many times already. McConnell and She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Well, he’s smarter than that, and she definitely isn’t. She’d blurt out the truth and get nailed for it!
Pence? I don’t like the guy for his religious ideologies, but that man is furious at what Trump did to him on Jan 6.
I don’t think he’ll go above and beyond to bury Trump, but he won’t be putting impediments to the prosecution at all.
yeah, he hates trump, but he loves the GOP, and hurting Trump hurts the GOP.
and while I don’t think he’d hurt the prosecution, I have serious doubts as to how much he’d actually help them.
Interesting that “Republican intends to comply with the law” is seen as a newsworthy event …
Pence: “I won’t break the law.”
Great. You wanna cookie or something?
Note: “comply with the law” isn’t the same as “comply.” Remember how many of Trump’s people fought requests and subpoenas and dragged the whole process out until the courts told them to testify or not. Pence could challenge every subpoena until SCOTUS tells him he has to appear and that would still be “comply(ing) with the law.”
uhhh I don’t rEcALL,
X1000000
Who knew that complying with the law was an elective for politicians that swear on bibles to respect their position and serve the country.
Good thing he decided to be a good guy!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But … I don’t know what the path of this indictment will be,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union.”
“But actually there are profound issues around this, pertaining to the First Amendment, freedom of speech and the rest.
Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty in a Washington, DC, courthouse to four criminal charges – including conspiracy to defraud the United States – related to the investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The federal judge who will preside over the case intends to set a trial date at the next hearing on August 28.
In his interview with CNN, Pence said Trump “was wrong then, and he’s wrong now” on the idea that Pence, as vice president presiding over Congress’ count of the Electoral College vote, had a right to reject the election result.
On Saturday evening, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that “I never told … Pence to put me above the Constitution,” calling the former vice president “delusional.”
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Glad Pence will. He needs to do so.
On paper, Pence should be an excellent Republican candidate. Hard right social positions, and known as being “too honest.” He had 90% approval rating among republicans in January 2021, then a week later it fell over 50%. He now has so little support he may not qualify for the debate stage. The GOP has become too extreme, and Fox News and the party leaders are like addicts who know they need to stop but prefer the pleasures and benefits of going harder and harder.
Only Mike Pence could trip on such a low bar.
Go back to Russia.
🥱
Pence reminds me of Wormtongue in LOTR.
He has the guts of an earthworm.
So grateful for this. He’s a pos but atleast he has some shadow of integrity
this isn’t integrity. it’s entirely self-interest.
if he had integrity, he would have come out with all of what he knew long ago, especially when he was subpoenaed by congress when they were conducting their investigation— a subpoena he refused to comply with, btw.