Mike Pence has a whole new problem
“President” Donald Trump continues to benefit from his extensive holdings around the world. While he does not appear to officially mandate that his cabinet and Vice President stay at his properties, they sure seem to go out of their way to please him in this regard. Attorney General Bill Barr purportedly dug into his own wallet to pay $30,000 to buy drinks and taco bowls at the Trump D.C. location.
In that vein, Vice President Mike Pence is in Ireland for official meetings in Dublin, which is on the east side of Ireland. While Ireland is not a large island, where Pence stayed was on the west end of the island, in Doonbeg. By coincidence, Doonbeg has a hotel owned by one Trump Organization. Pence must travel by helicopter after an hour-long car ride.
Pence has some relatives in Doonbeg, but the explanation he offered to the TV cameras does not hold much water: “If you have a chance to get to Doonbeg you’ll find it’s a fairly small place. The opportunity to stay at Trump National in Doonbeg, to accommodate the unique footprint that comes with our security detail and other personnel made it logical.”
Mike Pence surely was not influenced by the “suggestion” from Donald Trump that he consider staying at the same hotel the Irish government refused to visit for meeting with Trump. The turnip is the name given to a root vegetable, and there is the old adage that you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. Except apparently when it is a Trump Turnip, and then it becomes apparent that you can get something out of the turnip. This stinks to high heaven, like when my mom used to boil turnips and cabbage.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.