Legal experts say Robert Mueller has nailed Mike Pence on impeachable crimes
Donald Trump’s odds of remaining in office took a severe hit when it was revealed that there were two different versions of the letter announcing the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and that Special Counsel Robert Mueller now has both letters. The first, unreleased letter paints Trump as being guilty of obstruction of justice among other crimes. But the story has also now swallowed up Mike Pence, to the point that at least two legal experts think Pence is now completely screwed.
It was the New York Times that broke the story of the first Comey firing letter, written by Trump and Stephen Miller, which was ultimately rejected by the White House counsel for exposing them to legal liability (link). But four words casually tossed into the seventh paragraph of that article may be the real story: “Vice President Mike Pence.” It confirms that Pence knew of the contents of the first letter, and proceeded to help cover it up. He even went on television and lied about the second letter, from Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, having been the basis for the firing.
Why does this matter? According to Fordham Law Professor Jed Shugerman, who appeared on-air on MSNBC to discuss the matter, it implicates Mike Pence on multiple felonies. One is conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, as Pence helped Trump to sabotage the Russia investigation by firing Comey. Another is misprision of a felony, a legal term of having knowledge of a felony and not reporting it, as Pence kept knowledge of Trump’s true intentions to himself. Shugerman points out that Richard Nixon was about to be impeached for obstruction when he resigned, and that Pence is now in severe jeopardy himself. He’s not the only legal expert who thinks Pence is completely screwed over this.
Respected Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe posted on Twitter that he also believes Mike Pence has committed misprision of a felony, while adding that “The VP appears to me to be in what lawyers have been known to call deep doo-doo.”
