Robert Mueller is zeroing in on Mike Pence
We all know why Special Counsel Robert Mueller is emphatically pursuing information about Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey. Trump was trying to sabotage the Russia investigation, and Mueller is building an ironclad case proving that Trump committed obstruction of justice in the process. Now Mueller is aggressively pursuing a different firing, and this one feels like an attempt at zeroing in on Mike Pence.
Mueller is now seeking as much internal detail as possible about the circumstances of Donald Trump’s ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, according to an ABC News report (link). Most political pundits are quickly pointing to this as yet another instance of Mueller trying to nail Trump for obstruction. I think there’s much more to it. If he’s looking to argue that Trump obstructed justice by firing Flynn, it makes for a weaker case than trying to argue that Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey. But there is one other reason to pursue the Flynn firing.
House Democrats officially informed Mike Pence during the transition period that Michael Flynn was on the take from foreign governments. When it then surfaced in the earliest days of the administration that Flynn was secretly communicating with the Russian government, Pence went on national television and lied about what he knew. In other words, Pence went out of his way to try to cover up the Flynn scandal, even at the risk of exposing himself. This strongly suggests that Pence was in on the Flynn scandal to begin with, or else he wouldn’t have stuck his neck out so far during the coverup.
Robert Mueller’s decision to pursue the firing of Michael Flynn feels less like an attempt at heaping yet another ounce of dirt on Donald Trump’s head, and more like an attempt at dumping a gallon of dirt on Mike Pence’s head. If Mueller can expose the specific reason why Pence tried to cover for Flynn, he can nail Pence for obstruction or worse.
