We Always Knew Mike Pence Was Irrelevant, and Now We Know He's Corrupt, Too

[babylonsister]

WORSER AND WORSER
We Always Knew Mike Pence Was Irrelevant, and Now We Know He’s Corrupt, Too
For two-plus years, the fawning vice president merely made a fool of himself. But after he stayed at Trump’s Ireland hotel, he’s much worse than that.
Margaret Carlson
Updated 09.05.19 10:00AM ET / Published 09.04.19 9:02PM ET


Until Vice President Mike Pence chose to stay at a Trump hotel 180 miles from where his meetings in Ireland were taking place, he fell somewhere in the middle of vice presidents: those who did so little to distinguish the office no one remembers them—Elbridge Gerry, Hannibal Hamlin, Dan Quayle—and those who did so much to disgrace the office—Calvin Coolidge, Spiro Agnew, Dick Cheney—that we can’t forget them.

Pence has moved from the first category to the second, not for dismissing claims that Trump paid off a porn star as baseless. It’s because rather than impose his Bible-thumping religion, with its commandment “Thou shalt not steal” on Trump, he has let Trump corrupt him. A glance at Trivago would reveal numerous hotels smack dab in the middle of where Pence’s meetings were taking place, and yet when Trump said, according to Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, “Why don’t you stay at my place?” he said yes.

When I invite someone to stay at my place, even if they chip the wedding china and drink all the good wine during their visit, I don’t bill them. But what “staying at my place” means when it’s Trump doing the inviting is that the taxpayer will pay dearly—likely six figures for the whole entourage (a suite with ocean view, high-count thread sheets, in-floor heat, and bespoke decor goes for $1,000 per night), and that’s without the cost of the commute by helicopter, or the bar tab.

The defense that Mike Pompeo’s State Department purportedly approved every last dollar of the trip is just confirmation that everyone’s on the take.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/we-always-knew-mike-pence-was-irrelevant-and-now-we-know-hes-corrupt-too?ref=scroll

[Thomas Hurt]

1. He has always been corrupt. His existence on the ticket was a corrupt deal...

made with the christofascist theocrat leadership to support Trump. Even got that focus on the family tool to proclaim a born again christian.

[malaise]

2. So what's new about this?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-pence-used-campaign-funds-to-pay-his-mortgage--and-it-cost-him-an-election/2016/07/15/90858964-49ed-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html
<snip>

A brochure from Mike Pence’s 1988 House race, the first of two election defeats that helped shape Pence’s future political image. (Congressman Philip R. Sharp Papers/Ball State University Libraries)
Mike Pence was a young lawyer on the rise, challenging a longtime Democratic congressman in a Republican-leaning Indiana district.

And then, scandal.

Campaign finance records from the 1990 effort showed that Pence, then 31, had been using political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his personal credit card bill, groceries, golf tournament fees and car payments for his wife.

The spending had not been illegal at the time. But it stunned voters — and undermined Pence’s strategy to portray the incumbent, Rep. Philip R. Sharp, as tainted by donations from special-interest political action committees.

“It was a brazen act of hypocrisy,” said Billy Linville, who was Sharp’s campaign manager. “It was a bombshell, for sure. .?.?. Without question, he may well have won the election if it had not been for that.”

Pence’s early stumble proved to be a defining moment, prompting a period of public remorse that helped create the wholesome image many Republicans now say makes him an ideal running mate to counterbalance the bombastic Donald Trump.

In the months after that 1990 defeat, Pence waged a statewide apology tour and disavowed negative campaigning. He told a local reporter that using campaign funds for personal expenses had been “an exercise in naivete.”

Pence’s 1990 race also led to key changes in campaign finance policies. Experts say that subsequent rules passed by the Federal Election Commission barring the use of campaign funds for personal needs were the direct result of ethics concerns raised by Pence’s actions.

[FM123]

7. Exactly!

(I couldn't find this particular Washington Post article, thanks for posting it)

[malaise]

8. I can always find it

I bookmarked it to remind me that mother also got her car payments - fugging goodie goodie hypocrites.

[MFGsunny]

3. Grifters' Co-conspiracies, over and over and over again. ..... that is all. n/t

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. If he weren't corrupt he wouldn't have been Trump's VP!

What a bullshit article! She should be embarrassed to churn out a piece of obvious crap like this.

[ecstatic]

5. Pence's lies, corruption, and complicity from Day 1

is well documented. Lying about Flynn, etc. He's a lying POS and I hope his ass is locked up too at some point.

[FM123]

6. Yes, Pencey is quite corrupt. I remember reading about it when trump first picked him as veep...

(NYDailyNews) Mike Pence used $13G of campaign funds for mortgage, golf fees during 1990 congressional bid.

Who's crooked now?

During a failed 1990 congressional run, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump's newly announced running mate, used nearly $13,000 in campaign funds for a slew of personal purposes, including paying down his mortgage and covering golf tournament fees.

The then 31-year-old lawyer didn't break any laws at the time — but Pence's questionable ethics outraged voters and ultimately prompted the Federal Election Commission to crack down on politicians who abuse their campaign funds, the Washington Post reported.

"If you're giving money to Mike Pence, you're paying his mortgage!" Billy Linville, campaign manager for Pence's rival, incumbent Democrat Philip R. Sharp, screamed at a 1990 press conference after news of the spending spree broke.

Pence eventually lost in a landslide — an outcome directly related to the shady spending, Linville said.
"Without question, he may well have won the election if it had not been for that," he told the newspaper in a new interview. "It was a bombshell, for sure."

According to 1990 campaign finance records, Pence used $12,867 from his campaign account for personal expenses. That's the equivalent of about $23,700 in 2016.

The payouts included seven $992 mortgage payments and seven of his wife's $222 car payments. More cash went to buy household groceries, pay off Pence's credit cards and even cover the costs of participating in golf tournaments.

When news broke before the election, Pence stood by his spending habits. He had taken a significant pay cut when he backed away from his job as a lawyer to run for office, he claimed.

"I'm not embarrassed that I need to make a living," he told reporters at the time.

read more:
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mike-pence-13k-campaign-funds-mortgage-golf-fees-article-1.2714118

[malaise]

9. Your link is just as good

Ha

[FM123]

18. Thanks

[Joe941]

10. Now? We already knew that.

[TheRealNorth]

11. The long knives seem to be coming for Mike Pence

Pence appears to have outlived his usefulness to Trump and is going to be discarded like a Hollywood Blvd hooker.

[murielm99]

12. Good.

Get rid of him first. Make him resign, like Agnew. Then go after the orange thing.

[Nasruddin]

13. We're getting Ivanka

Just my guess -- maybe they need her sooner, rather than later (which would be Jan 2021)

[murielm99]

15. You could be right.

If that happens, we have to prepare to protest, howl, scream, whatever it takes.

That Barbie skank is dumber than a box of rocks. She may be even dumber than her orange father.

[No Vested Interest]

14. Don't you know? People rationalize; they can always find a reason to justify their actions.

People rationalize in all parts of their lives.
You and I likely do it as well, just not regarding something so egregious.

[Scarsdale]

16. In 2024 Don Jr.

is planning to run for the WH. Just what we need, another dumb as a sack of rocks grifting tRump. He has seen how lucrative the "job" has been for his father, so he wants in on the grift. The tRump dynasty has plans.

[Perseus]

17. I just hope he is treated fully with bedbugs and all

He deserves it.