Predictably, Team Trump Drags Pence Into FL Criminal Case

Is there anyone who didn’t see this coming? Sure, Trump has repeatedly complained (whined is more accurate) that he’s being picked on, “persecuted” and more to the point here “selectively prosecuted” for taking, then refusing to hand back highly classified material. Trump’s mantra whether on the campaign trail, in interviews or on Truth Bullshit Social is that others, in particular President Biden and even his former VP Mike Pence ‘did the same thing’ and no one’s filed charged against THEM!  Let’s leave aside all the discussion of how what Trump did is so very different and concentrate on what matters. On his behalf attorney Chris Kise has formally dragged Pence into the Florida criminal case.

As Newsweek reports Kise submitted a court filing alleging Trump is being prosecuted due to “political bias.” I’m only surprised that it’s taken this long for such a filing to be made. Then again it’s probably been drawn up for months waiting for the right moment, and was intended to drop now in the first of May to obtain a delay in the Florida trial which once upon a time was scheduled to begin May 24. Judge “Loose” Cannon never had any intention of allowing that to happen. But there was probably a “reminder” on Kise’s calendar to file the motion to force a delay. Trump of course is otherwise occupied and Todd Blanche has enough on his plate without bothering to deal with Chris Kise questions. (Such as asking if he should go ahead and file the motion with judge Cannon)

So, Kise has formally involved Trump’s VP and former fanboy Mike Pence in the Florida National Security case. Per the linked Newsweek article:

Kise’s filing outlines that Pence was found to be holding on to classified documents yet was not indicted. It says that Pence made a number of disclosures to the National Archives and Records Administration [NARA] after leaving the White House.

“On January 18, 2023, counsel for Mike Pence disclosed to NARA that ‘a small number of documents bearing classified markings … were inadvertently boxed and transported to the personal home of the former Vice President at the end of the last Administration.”

Now Pence will have to shell out some serious bucks in legal fees to limit his involvement in the National Security case (it’s far more than a “documents” case dammit!) and come to think of it that might be the point. We’ve all seen those pictures of Pence staring adoringly at Trump like Nancy Reagan was famous/infamous for doing with her Ronnie. Even after Trump unleashed a mob that roamed the Capitol hunting for him (and his family) chanting “Hang Mike Pence” he refused to denounce Trump. However Pence committed an unpardonable sin by running (easy to forget now but he did) against Trump for the GOP nomination. And sealed his own coffin shut from the inside by saying he won’t vote for Trump. So maybe Kise got through after all and Trump decided to screw Pence some financially by making HIM hire lawyers. Again.

Look, as I said what happened with Biden and Pence is nothing like what Trump did. I specifically omit the word “allegedly” because Trump openly admits to the NATIONAL SECURITY crimes he committed. Insists because he was President what he did wasn’t against the law. Now, I’m not happy with either Biden or Pence that classified information was found in their effects after they left office. Much, much stronger instructions should have been given to staffers who sorted through everything and packed up their offices. Yet I find myself at least in part feeling some sympathy not just for Biden but Pence as well.

In Pence’s case he too had been around the block. He’d been a Congress Critter and then a Governor.  So, he knew how things get near the end. Even a well-planned and well-intentioned effort to go through a TON of stuff to sort out what’s personal and what stays is a tedious and time consuming task. And, because there is business to be conducted right up to the end there’s always that “last minute rush.”

Think about your own lives. When you’ve say left a job  you’d been in for several years or more. Your desk, and your office or cubicle has all kinds of stuff you’ve had to sort out. What are your personal belongings. Just going through that to sort out what’s yours (especially any written stuff) and what belongs to your employer is a pain in the butt. You might have had ideas you never fleshed out and talked to the boss(s) about. Or you did and they shot you down, but you think a future employer might like. You might have notes/memos from co-workers that are personal attaboys or criticisms that don’t go into actual detail about what company business it refers to.

See what I’m driving at? You have to figure out what’s personal and what’s business stuff that stays with your employer. Now imagine ramping that up in scale to hundreds of thousands (or more) pages of written documents.  And imagine being some staffer on the team that has to go through it all. Some are going to be more diligent than others. Even the ones doing their best might, being under serious time pressure see a small stack, say four inches or so of things stapled, paper clipped together with most of them being one to three pages in length.  You quickly flip through and without realizing it take two at once, missing the one hidden that has those big red letters that say CLASSIFIED at the top.

Again, those staffers should have the fear of god put in them to be really, really careful and check every damned thing. And promised a genuinely nice reward when the job is done.  But as they say “sh*t happens” and with this type of thing its bad as in worse than usual. So no, Pence shouldn’t be getting dragged into all this. And since his Florida trial isn’t going to happen before the election anyway there was no reason to do so.  The thing is, Pence did things right. Kise admits as much, that Pence decided to be proactive in the wake of Biden’s people finding classified material and reporting it (immediately) to authorities. He decided to have his own folks go looking just in case. As Kise details in his filing:

“Pence had undertaken a search for those records in response to reports relating to President Biden’s mishandling of classified information,” Kise’s filing states.

“The following day, DOJ [Department of Justice] bypassed the standard procedures under the Presidential Records Act” and “requested direct possession of the documents, and sent FBI agents to Pence’s Indiana residence to collect the documents late at night,” Kise adds.

Kise then said that, on January 20, 2023, Pence’s counsel agreed to turn over to NARA four additional boxes “containing copies of Administration papers.” These comprised two boxes “in which a small number of papers appearing to bear classified markings had been found, and two separate boxes containing courtesy copies of Vice Presidential papers.”

Kise goes on to note that Pence consented to a search (by the FBI) of his residence which resulted in additional classified documents being found. Consensual. As in Pence didn’t fight it. He instead said in effect: Sure, I want to fully cooperate. Like Biden, Pence acted the exact opposite of the way Trump did.  Kise filing seems (to me at least) be tinged with some bitterness where is says:

Finally, “on June 2, 2023, DOJ reportedly notified Pence that no charges would be filed related to the classified documents.”

Hey Kise, you want some “whine with that cheese?” Look the fact is that Trump won’t mind Pence having to shell out some major bucks for lawyers. Hell, he will enjoy causing it to happen. However this is a stunt that I believe was meant to happen three to four weeks before any trial, if one can’t be prevented is going to start. That’s why I think it was a delay tactic all along and Kise blew it by pulling the trigger when he did.

Once his Manhattan trial is done and Trump can spend some time with all the other lawyers I wonder what his reaction will be. If I were Kise, whenever that pow-wow takes place I’d have a doctor lined up to put my butt in the hospital for a couple of days. Any excuse not to have to face Trump for blowing things by playing THIS particular card right now instead (if needed) later.  Because it will have altered Jack Smith to what the real issue will be – a fight over forcing President Biden into the proceedings.  Now Smith can deal with it pre-emptively. Yep. Trump is going to be pissed.

Maybe, since Pence seems to have finally accepted he will never be President and has zero chance of taking over leadership of the MAGA Mob someday he’ll to more than simply publicly refuse to endorse Trump.  He just might, if only to regain some favor with the RWNJ “Christians” responsible for his elevation to the VP slot in the first place start attacking Trump – on abortion. Shared fury about Trump not calling for, DEMANDING even a national ban on abortion with NO exceptions and rolling back contraception too might do some real damage. Trump did after all try to have him killed…