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A formal article of impeachment for obstruction of justice against President Trump. Veuer's Nick Cardona (@nickcardona93) has that story. Buzz60

US President Donald Trump whispers to US Vice President Mike Pence before a meeting with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in in the Cabinet Room of the White House June 30, 2017 in Washington, DC.(Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON Just one day after President Trump's oldest son stunned the political world by releasing emails showing he actively sought damaging information about Hillary Clinton from the Russian government, Mike Pence offered aninteresting and rather dramaticdescription of what it's really like to be vice president.

According to Pence, being aleader can feel like being on a roller coaster.

"You need to keep your arms and legs in the ride at all times," he told student leaders Wednesday at American University. "Put the roll bar down, because you just got to hang on."

The roller coaster analogy appeared to be a particularly apt one these days for Pence, who is trying to navigate the latest controversy to hit the White House after this week's revelations that Donald Trump Jr. met last summer with Kremlin-linked lawyer NataliaVeselnitskaya after he wastold the Russian governmentwould provide the information as part of its support for his father's campaign.

After the news broke, Pence issued a statement that appeared to distance himself from the Trump campaign.Pence is not focused on stories about the campaign, particularly stories about the time before he joined the ticket," his spokesman Marc Lotter said Tuesday. The meeting, which also included then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner, took place right after Trump clinched the Republican nomination last summer.

Read more:

Did Donald Trump Jr. break any laws by seeking damaging information from Russia on Hillary Clinton?

Timeline: Donald Trump Jr.'s interactions with Kremlin-linked lawyer

Tully: What must Mike Pence be thinking?

Senate Judiciary panel will call Paul Manafort to testify in Russia investigation

Pencesreaction to thedisclosure appeared to be a stark departure from his usualblanket rejections that there was any contact between Trumpland and the Russians, as well as from Pence's usual effusive praise of Trump.

We all see whats happening here. The roof is falling in on the president and the administration, said political commentator Stuart Rothenberg.I took it as an effort to create a separate narrative. Its hard for me to believe its anything else.

Ron Klain, who worked for former Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore, put it more bluntly on Twitter: "I've never seen any @VP statement that so distanced himself from the @POTUS."

But spokesman Lotter arguedWednesday that his originalstatement explained that Pence is still focused on advancing Trump's agenda. The vice president, Lotter said,continues to have a packed schedule that recently includedmultiple meetings Tuesday on health care and a trip to Kentucky on Wednesday to help sell the GOP bill. "Any suggestion that he is distancing himself is laughable armchair punditry," Lotter said.

Yet another adviser, who was not authorized to speak publicly,said Pence istaking a wait-and-see approach to the latest controversybefore mounting a robustdefense of the administration.

The adviser said Pence is handling the situation in the same way he did with the biggest bombshellduring the campaign season the release of the Access Hollywood tapes in which Trump bragged about groping women. Pence canceled a campaign trip to Wisconsin and laid low for several days, until Trump apologized during the debate. In the same way, Pence is letting Trump take the lead on responding to the latest Russia revelations, the adviser said.

The measured response is evidence of the tight rope Pence continues to walk as he tries to support his boss without sacrificing his own reputation and political future.

With growing criminal and congressional investigations into possible collusion between the Trump team and the Russian government, Pence has tried to keep his distance from potential scandals but hes still had to lawyer up hiring last month Richard Cullen, former U.S. attorney who is chairman of Washington, D.C.-based law firm McGuire Woods.

Pence may be playing it more cautiously since he has been sent out time and again to defend the president on many controversial issues, from Russia to voter fraud claims Trump has made without evidence.

And some of his previous comments have come back to bite him. Pence, in a January appearance on CBSs Face the Nation, dismissed as bizarre rumors the question of whether anyone in the Trump campaign had contact with Russians who were trying to meddle in the election.

"Of course not," Pence said when posed a similar question by Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday. "Why would there be any contacts between the campaign?"

Trump Jr.'s emails, of course, call these comments into question.So while Mike Murphy, another longtime friend of Pence and an Indiana political strategist, said Pence might be one of the most loyal people hes ever met he notes thathes also not nave.

Murphy said the facts surrounding the Trump Jr. meeting are continuing to emerge, so it doesnt make sense for Pence to give a full-throated defense of the situation yet. I dont think its disloyal, he said. I think its prudent.

Rothenberg, the political commentator, said Pence faces the classic problem all vice presidents have:They need the president to do well and their job is to be supportive. But at the same time, they have to look out for their own future. And these kinds of controversies make that job difficult.

Hes trying to walk those fine lines. `Yeah, Im supportive, but I didnt know about hisstuff, Rothenberg said. Hell have to go back and forth on this line depending upon the next shoe to drop.

But those who know Pence well say they expect him to remain loyal to Trump, even as he takes steps for self-preservation. He is 150 percent a Trumpster now, said Rex Early, former chairman of the Indiana GOP who headed the Trump/Pence campaign in the state. Hes loyal, as he should be.

Calling Pence the ultimate team player, Indiana Republican Bob Grand said Pences comment was just a statement of fact, not an attempt to distance himself from the situation.

Hes cherished the moment that he got selected," said Grand, a top GOP fundraiser and Pence friend who helped Pence celebrate his recent birthday on Air Force 2. "He worked tirelessly on the campaignThats a team. Hes with the president.

As he spoke to students at American University, Pence did not address the controversy, but he did call Trump a champion, a visionary and a bold leader who is restoring Americas rightful role as leader of the free world.White House spokesman Sarah Sanders insisted Tuesday "there's absolutely no distance between the president and vice president.

Yet there is a distinct difference in how each leader isapproaching the latest bombshell.

While Trump has vented publicly, lashing out at the media and other perceived enemies, Pence in recent days has taken a business-as-usual approach: tweetingphotos of himself riding horses in Rock Creek Park, meeting with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell on Capitol Hill, and praising Trump's European trip.

And while there are plenty of news stories quoting exasperated White House aides and unhappiness in Trumps inner circle, there are rarely comments from Penceor those close to him about his state of mind.

Pences Wednesday speech at American University shed little insight, but he did have these lessonsfor the students: Aspire to be men and women of character. Respect and defer to those above you in authority. Have a healthy dose of courage. As President Trump said just a few months ago, nothing worth doing ever came easy, Pence said.

That's another lesson Pence may be learning in this White House, as the vice president has hitplenty of obstacles in recent weeks even beyond the congressional and special counsel investigations involving current and past members of the Trump administration.

It's not just Russia squabbles. Pence has also had the recent headache of heading the voter fraud commission President Trump created, seemingly in hopes of backing his unsubstantiated claims millions of fraudulent votes cost him the popular vote last year. The commission has sparked a backlash from secretaries of state including from Pences home state and the American Civil Liberties Union is among the groupssuing Pence's panel even before its first scheduled meeting next week.

What's more, some of the policy positions Pence cares mostabout havent yet come to fruition.

On the administrations top policy goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare, Pence has not yet seen the same success in the Senate as he did in the House in helping lawmakers find a way to get enough votes for passage. His boss continues to complicate negotiations with his shifting comments on how to proceed, frustrating senators who are already exasperated with the distractions of the daily developments on the Russia investigation.

David McIntosh, a longtime friend of Pences who runs the Club for Growth, said Pence hasnt let the ongoing investigations deter him from focusing on the legislative agenda. I dont think its a factor at all in how hes doing the job, said McIntosh, whose group is pushing for repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Still, as the White House continues to put out political fires, there was much speculation that Pence was looking out for his own future when he created in May a super PAC, allowing him to raise money that can be used to help candidates but also strengthens his position in the party.

The New York Times recently detailed Pences wooing of donors, including through regular dinners held at the vice presidents official residence.

Grand, however, said Pences PAC is just another way hes helping the team, in addition to directly raising money for various party organizations, candidates and other PACs.The question is, how do you strengthen the team? This is another avenue, the Indiana Republican said.

And he dismissed the question of whether Pence could reach the point where he no longer wants to be part of that team.

I honestly dont think theres a breaking point, Grand said. Hes the vice president of the United States. I think hes doing a great job. Every day, all day long, the administration is under attack. Time and time again, you listen to all the commentary of people who speculate about all these things. From his standpoint I would hope, I dont know, but I would hope, that he just continues to do his job.

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How Vice President Mike Pence is weathering the Donald Trump Jr. Russia revelations - USA TODAY

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday offered a curious statement in response to that mornings release of emails showing that the eldest son of President Donald Trump met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in 2016 intending to obtain damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

The carefully worded response from Pences press secretary Marc Lotter attempts to absolve the vice president of any responsibility and involvement. It makes a point of mentioning that Donald Trump Jr.s June 2016 meeting which was also attended by Trumps then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner took place before Pence joined the presidential ticket.

The vice president is working every day to advance the presidents agenda, the statement from Pences office says. He was not aware of the meeting. He is also not focused on stories about the campaign especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign.

Ron Klain, who served as chief of staff for Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, said that Pences statement was particularly unusual.

In an interview in January, Pence denied that there were any ties between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials.

Well, of course not, Pence told CBS John Dickerson.And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.

See the article here:
Mike Pence Attempts To Distance Himself From Growing Trump Scandal - HuffPost

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When U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., up for re-election this year, announced his opposition to the health care repeal bill this month, an outside group launched a retaliatory attack.

America First Policies is run by a group of President Donald Trump loyalists that includes Nick Ayers, a Georgia GOP operative now in line to be Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff.

When the TV attack was launched, we heard that a number of then unnamed Republican senators voiced hard objections. It turns out, one of them was U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia.

We know this because during his Tuesday evening telephone town hall meeting, Isakson was asked by Laura from Decatur why he hadnt held the White House accountable for the divisive nature of politics in Washington. Isakson said he had:

Two weeks ago, I had a luncheon in the Mansfield Room in the U.S. Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol. I questioned the vice president as to why they were using a certain type of advertisingagainst Dean Heller, one of our members whos up for re-election in Nevada, on the health care issue.

I didnt think people in the administration ought to be running ads, one way or another, against an elected official, trying to force their position one way or another.

I try to do it on a selected basis, but when it really means something.

Later in the conversation, Joe in Atlanta, said he wished Isakson would be more vocal about the secretive nature of the Senate Republican attempt at repealing Obamacare. A new version is to drop Thursday again, without Democratic participation.

Isakson said he had raised his concerns: Ive said it publicly, in more ways than one. Not enough to start an argument, but enough to let them know where I stood, he said.

***

As we reported yesterday, the Rev. Joseph Lowery will endorse Council President Ceasar Mitchell today in the race to become the next mayor of Atlanta. The press release from the Mitchell campaign says that civil rights icon will address Atlantas millennial voters and discuss a city at a crossroads.

Itll all happen on the Clark Atlanta campus at 2:30 p.m.

***

Newly elected state GOP chair John Watson has begun cleaning house. Hes tapped campaign veteran Carmen Foskey to serve as executive director.

Foskey, a native of Warner Robins, has managed Republican political campaigns across the state, including Republican Eddie DeLoachs 2015 upset victory in the Savannah mayors race, and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins most recent re-election bid.

Watson also announced that Leigh Ann Gillis, veteran political fundraiser for both Sonny and David Perdue, will serve as the partys finance director.

Gone are executive director Adam Pipkin, political director Brad Hughes, and the two leaders of the GOPs minority engagement effort, Leo Smith and Lisa Kinnemore.

***

State Court of Appeals Judge John Ellington has bench-pressed $370,309 in his race to

Georgia Supreme Court candidate John Ellington/AJC file

replace the retiring Carol Hunstein on the Georgia Supreme Court.

Thats more COH than Attorney General Chris Carr ($356,919) and two Democratic candidates for governor Stacey Abrams ($220,000) and Stacey Evans ($360,000).

But not as much as four candidates for mayor of Atlanta. Of course, their contest is in November. Non-partisan judicial races will be settled in the May primary.

***

Attorney General Chris Carrs retinue of donors also includes lobbyist Brad Alexander, political operative Keith Mason, Southern Co. executive Hank Linginfelter and Intercontinental Exchange chief executive Jeff Sprecher.

The Tarbutton clan gave Carr at least $1,000. The familys patriarch, Charles Tarbutton, is a Sandersville rail executive whose family has ties to Nathan Deal, former Gov. Zell Miller and other successful gubernatorial candidates stretching back the last half-century. Hes chairing Cagles campaign.

And the Wilheit family signaled its support with a pair of $1,000 checks from Phil Wilheit Jr. and his son. The Wilheits, owners of a Gainesville packaging firm, were Deals closest allies and have rallied behind Cagle in the 2018 race.

One of Carrs first donations was a $1,000 check from U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, his mentor and former boss. Two other one-time senators chipped into his campaign: Saxby Chambliss and Mack Mattingly.

Another tidbit: Former Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, donated $1,000 to Carr.

***

Democrat David Kim, one of a gaggle of contenders challenging U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall in the Gwinnett-based Seventh District, will report this week raising about $260,000 in less than a month since announcing his campaign.

***

Get ready: An event that bills itself as the largest political convention of the year for the nations progressives is coming to Atlanta next month.Netroots Nation, organized by the liberal Daily Kos advocacy site, will be held at the Hyatt Regency downtown starting on Aug. 10.

The lineup includes former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights advocate Bernice King and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the runner-up in this years race to lead the Democratic National Committee.

Also among the speakers: Former Georgia House minority leader Stacey Abrams, one of two leading Democrats in the hunt for Georgias open governor seat in 2018.

You might remember Daily Kos for another reason: The site helped Democrat Jon Ossoff raise millions of dollars and propel him to national attention in this years 6th District race.

***

A man accused of threatening U.S. Rep. John Lewis staff is considered competent enough to stand trial, according to the Associated Press.

A judge had ordered a mental health evaluation for defendant Dante Antione Rosser after he was accused threatening the safety of Lewis aides during a visit to the Atlanta Democrats office and subsequent phone calls. From the AP:

Rosser made 46 calls over two days in February and demanded the congressmans staff seek financial reparations for his family, according to a sworn statement from a U.S. Capitol Police special agent. The statement says Rosser threatened to splatter their heads all over the ground.

A federal grand jury in March indicted Rosser, saying he threatened to assault and murder a congressional employee.

***

U.S. Rep. Austin Scotts new chief of staff has deep ties to Georgia Republicans and the National Rifle Association.

The congressional tracking site LegiStorm reports that the Tifton Republican has hired Jason Lawrence as his top aide. Lawrence was a lobbyist for the NRA for the last two years. Before that, he worked with several other current and now former GOP lawmakers, including former U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, U.S. Rep. Tom Graves and retired U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

***

The Heritage Foundation has hired CarterBaldwin, an Atlanta-based head-hunting firm, in its search for a new president, according to Politico.com.

The top job at the conservative think-tank has been vacant since May, when the Heritage Foundations board of directors unexpectedly sacked former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint. He had led Heritage since 2012.

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Your Daily Jolt: Johnny Isakson says he stood up to Mike Pence ... - Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)

Kansas City Star (blog)

Melinda Henneberger: What Mike Pence gets wrong and right about baby Charlie Gard and health care Kansas City Star (blog) Mike Pence is all kinds of mistaken in his view that the tragic case of 11-month-old Charlie Gard, whose ventilator may effectively be switched off by a British judge on Thursday, is a story of single-payer health care. That's where it takes us ... VP Mike Pence: 'We Hope and Pray that Little Charlie Gard Gets Every Chance'Breitbart News all 220 news articles »

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Melinda Henneberger: What Mike Pence gets wrong and right about baby Charlie Gard and health care - Kansas City Star (blog)

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Mike Pence at CPAC. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)Shortly after the November election, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill observed that while Mike Pence is often seen as the adult in the room, and a "counterbalance" to Donald Trump, "there is every reason to regard him as, if anything, even more terrifying than the president-elect." Scahill called Pence's ascension to vice president "a tremendous coup for the radical religious right."

While many in the nation were celebrating Pride Month held in June to commemorate the activists who began the modern gay rights movement at the Stonewall Riots -- the White House was silent.

During the same period, Vice President Mike Pence was off singing the praises of Dr. James Dobson, one of America's premier conservative Christian anti-gay political leaders. Pence told a cheering crowd at a celebration in Colorado Springs, Colorado, of the 40th anniversary of James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" radio program, that they have "an unwavering ally in President Donald Trump."

Pence said that the passage of President Trump's health care bill will finally "defund Planned Parenthood once and for all," and he added that "the time is now" to re-engage in politics.

Earlier in June, at Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Road to Majority conference, Pence praised Dobson, calling him his "mentor," when the founder of Focus on the Family received the organization's Winston Churchill Lifetime Achievement Award. Pence assured the audience that Trump will "never stop fighting for the values and ideals that make this nation great."

"You've done more for faith and freedom in your lifetime ... than any one person could do in ten lifetimes," he told Dobson. "Not only is your country grateful, but I say with confidence, great is your reward. You've made an eternal difference in the lives of millions."

"Raised Catholic, in a Kennedy Democratic household," he became a devout evangelical after being "converted at a Christian music festival in Kentucky while in college," Scahill pointed out. "Pence now describes himself as 'a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican, in that order.'"

As the Elite Daily's Lisa Dunn pointed out, Pence's record on gay rights is abysmal: In 2006, Pence led the conservative Republican Study Committee, who among other things, sought to ban gay marriage and legally define marriage as between one man and one woman. The following year he voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, stating that "this sets up something of a constitutional conflict between the right to religious freedom in the workplace and another person's newly created right to sue you for practicing your faith or acknowledging your faith in the workplace."

In 2009, he voted against legislation that would expand the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Act to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In 2010 he voted against the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, maintaining that "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service because the presence of homosexuals in the ranks weakens unit cohesion."

"From his time as U.S. Congressman to being Indiana's governor, Pence's anti-LGBTQ activism spans decades, and it would only continue if he reached the nation's highest political office," Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and CEO of GLAAD, agreed, told AOL News.

Given the breadth of Pence's synchronization with the religious right's agenda, he was a natural fit to sing the praises of Dobson.

Dobson the Kingmaker

Focus on the Family, "rejects reproduction freedoms for women, opposes sexuality education in schools except 'abstinence-only,' works to ban curricular materials it deems inappropriate including notions of multiculturalism and specifically anything it has determined promotes the so-called 'homosexual' or 'gay agenda,' encourages prayer in schools, supports private school vouchers to pay for parochial education at tax payer expense and to the detriment of public schooling, and many other conservative causes," lgbtqnation.com's Warren J. Blumenfeld recently pointed out.

James Dobson's radio program, which he began in 1977, "eventually grew to 7,000 stations in 150 countries and at its peak reached 220 million people each day," CBN News' Wendy Griffith recently pointed out, and led to the founding of the Focus on the Family organization, which at one time, was one of the most powerful and influential organizations on the Christian Right. At its height, FotF employed over 1,000 people. Dobson became a much sought out voice for anti-gay, and anti-abortion political action.

In the early 1990s, Dobson was one of the major backers of the notorious anti-gay Amendment 2 in Colorado, "a ballot measure to block any anti-discrimination laws aimed at protecting gays in cities and counties in the state."

While Amendment 2 passed (53 percent to 47 percent), the Colorado Supreme Court later ruled that "fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote," and it never went into effect.

In his 2004 book, Marriage Under Fire, Dobson wrote: "Like Adolf Hitler, who overran his European neighbors, those who favor homosexual marriage are determined to make it legal, regardless of the democratic processes that stand in their way"

After Dobson left the organization in 2010, Focus on the Family shrunk to about half of its peak size. According to Associated Press' Nicholas Riccardi and Kristen Wyatt, FotF's new leader Jim Daly, "scaled back involvement in politics see[ing] himself as part of a younger generation of religious leadership."

While Dobson heartily endorsed Trump, saying "I believe he really made a commitment but he is a baby Christian." Daly chose to remain neutral.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, CBN's Griffith noted that Family Talk Dobson's current radio program -- is launching the Dobson Digital Library, which "brings four decades of tried-and-true, family-centered content to a new generation of families on the worldwide web."

In June, Dobson was presented with the Winston Churchill Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition's Patriot's Gala. In presenting the award to Dobson, Reed said that Dobson had "served at the forefront of the evangelical conservative movement in America for decades, fighting for traditional marriage, the sanctity of human life and encouraging godly families."

At Dobson's anniversary dinner, Pence was determined to un-neutralize Focus on the Family supporters, getting them to gear up for more political action.

Focus on the Family is not disengaged from politics, Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State told the Associated Press. "Look at the data they put out," Lynn said, referring to Focus' arguments against bans on conversion therapy and suggestions that transgender children are being misled. "This is really hard-core stuff and it's not easily distinguished from the way Jim Dobson talked when he ran the place."

"What LGBTQ Americans are witnessing since Donald Trump became president is a systematic erasure to the LGBTQ community," Ellis continued. "The Trump Administration has removed LGBTQ people from government websites and the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, but if Mike Pence were to ever become president, this erasure would be placed into overdrive."

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Inside Man: Mike Pence Is the Religious Right's White House Agent - Truth-Out