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Republican president Mike Pence speaks to supporters at a rally in Chesterfield, Missouri (Shutterstock)

According to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, Vice President Mike Pence had a secret meeting with conservative donor Charles Koch while the two were in Colorado Springs Friday.

They met privately without aides for several minutes after that, Haberman tweeted Friday night. Topics tax reform, healthcare bill, VA efforts, others.

She went on to report that the two have had a long relationship. Pence started his own leadership PAC in May and quickly began raising money that can be used for his own legal defense of the Russia investigation.

The Koch brothers have an umbrella group that held a seminar over the weekend.

They met privately without aides for several minutes after that. Topics tax reform, healthcare bill, VA efforts, others.

Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 24, 2017

Pence and Koch network have long relationship. Koch-backed umbrella group holding seminar in CO Springs this weekend.

Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 24, 2017

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REVEALED: Mike Pence just had a secret meeting with GOP money-man Charles Koch - Raw Story

Jimmy Morales and Mike Pence at a summit in Miami last week. Several members of Barnes & Thornburg have worked for the vice-president in the past. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP

Guatemalas president, Jimmy Morales, is under growing political pressure over two contracts with an Indiana lobbying firm closely linked to the US vice-president Mike Pence.

Opposition politicians have called on Morales to reveal his role in the $80,000-a-month contracts signed with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, which appear to have been designed to sideline the state department and the Guatemalan foreign affairs ministry.

Barnes & Thornburg which has extensive ties with the Republican party was hired to improve relations between the governments of Guatemala and the US, but it remains unclear who funded the contract, which was signed by politicians without the authority to intervene in foreign affairs.

On Thursday, the US ambassador to Guatemala was drawn into the controversy after he was caught on tape describing the four lawmakers who signed the contracts as idiots.

Anti-corruption activists are calling for an urgent inquiry in Guatemala and the US.

There should be an investigation by both authorities into the origins of the funds, who is really behind the contract and what is the lobbying was really for, said Alejandro Barillas, a criminal lawyer at the international accountability group Impunity Watch.

The first contract was signed in April on behalf of Morales by a close friend and party fundraiser Claus Marvin Merida. At the time, Merida was posted in Washington as an honorary official representing Guatemalan migrants a position which did not authorize him to sign government contracts, according to several lawyers consulted by the Guardian.

Merida is currently implicated in two criminal investigations, including one linked to illegal election campaign funds, the Guatemalan justice ministry has told the Guardian.

The contract was cancelled 11 days later, and Merida was relieved of his honorary duties after he was found to be lobbying Guatemalan senators to expel US ambassador Todd Robinson.

Morales has denied knowledge of the contract, but under the countrys constitution only the president and the ministry of exterior relations are authorized to intervene in foreign affairs.

If the presidents good friend Claus Merida was acting independently, [Morales] is obliged by law to report this, as its a crime, said congressman Amilcar Pop from the progressive indigenous party Winaq.

A second contract with Barnes & Thornburg was signed in May by four congressmen representing different political parties. The contract describes them as a coalition united behind certain ideals and principles to advance the interests of the republic of Guatemala.

The four congressmen have said that Barnes & Thornburg did not receive any funds from the Guatemalan government, but they have resisted pressure to reveal who financed the deal.

On Thursday, three of the four politicians demanded an apology from Ambassador Robinson after a recording emerged in which he described them as idiots.

There are four idiots in Congress. I have worked closely with many of the lawmakers, but there are some for whom I have no respect neither as lawmakers nor as authorities, Robinson said, according to the audio published online by Prensa Libre.

In a separate radio interview, Robinson said that it was unnecessary to hire a lobbying firm to help bilateral relations. If there are problems with relations between the two countries, there are two embassies to address them, he said.

The second contract details a plan to develop close working relationships between members of the Guatemalan and US governments, and to set up a Guatemalan policy group chaired by managing partner of Barnes and Thornburg Robert Grand.

Grand served as senior member of the finance group for the Trump-Pence campaign and as finance vice-chair of the presidential inauguration committee. He sits on the Republican National Committees finance leadership team.

Several others B&T employees have worked for the vice-president including Stephen Simcox, who was Pences deputy general counsel when he was governor of Indiana, and partner Matt Morgan, who represented Pences gubernatorial campaign, and is now his deputy assistant and deputy counsel.

There was no immediate response to requests for comment from Barnes and Thornburg or the state department in Washington.

The company should make transparent all negotiations linked to these contracts in order to avoid suspicion that it is associated with any crimes committed in Guatemala, said Iduvina Hernandez, director of the Security in Democracy campaign group.

The growing scandal over the lobbying contracts has left Morales a former comedian known best for his blackface routine scrambling for political cover. This could be the case that forces him out of the presidency, said Hernandez.

News of the deal emerged amid a mounting backlash from Guatemalan elites against anti-corruption efforts in the country.

Hundreds of corrupt politicians, business owners and security forces have been forced out of office and prosecuted in recent years with the help of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity (CICIG).

Morales came to power in 2015 after the then-president and vice president were charged with operating a criminal network which stole millions of dollars of public money.

Morales, who had no political experience, promised to clean up politics under the slogan: Not corrupt, not a thief.

Asked about corruption charges against both his brother and son during a recent television interview, Morales claimed some corruption was normal.

Original post:
Guatemala president under pressure over lobbying firm linked to Mike Pence - The Guardian

Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that President Trump and congressional Republicans will complete health care legislation before the summer is out to repeal and replace Obamacare.

I want to assure you, before this summers out, working with the Congress, President Donald Trump is going to keep our promise to the American people, Mr. Pence told an audience of builders and contractors in Washington as the Senate was unveiling its legislation. This is the moment. Now is the time.

He blasted Democrats for failing to work with Republicans on a solution for Obamacare.

It really is remarkable when you think about it that as Obamacare is collapsing all across this country that the people that gave us Obamacare have refused to even lift a finger to fix and to clean up the mess that they created, Mr. Pence said. But were moving forward.

He urged the business leaders to talk with their lawmakers.

I want you to tell them the stories of the burden that Obamacare has placed on your businesses and on families in your communities, Mr. Pence said.

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Pence says Trump will sign health care bill before end of summer - Washington Times

The election of President Trump sent shockwaves throughout much of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who, after achieving eight years worth of political gains under the Obama administration, now faces an administration many LGBT leaders deem hostile to its civil rights goals.

But as controversy continues to cloud Donald Trump's presidency, with a growing investigation into his campaign ties to Russia looming over his administration, the odds of Vice President Mike Pence assuming the nation's highest seat before the next presidential election have people talking.

And a chunk of them belongs to the LGBT community, who are not so certain Pence would be a better choice for gay and transgender Americans given his long history of opposition to LGBT rights.

Last year, Glenn Pannell, a gay man who people thought looked eerily similar to Pence, made headlines after donning short shorts while collecting money for health care and LGBT rights organizations in the wake of the election.

But nearly seven months later, Pannell, who said he was "hit hard" by Trump's victory, believes his worse fears have been brought to fruition.

"I think Trump is very scary. I joined the course of people who are terrified of what is happening to this country and what is happening to people's opinion of this country, both here and abroad," Pannell tells AOL News.

See photos of Glenn "Hot-Pence" Pannell

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The line between activist fundraiser and pole dancer is ever so thin. #NPSR #MikeHotPence #activismishot (Photo credit: Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

Washington, DC: January 19, 2017 at the Arena Stage "Thanks Obama" event with organizer Bejide Davis

Cupids Undie Run to benefit The Childrens Tumor Foundation and neurofibromatosis research

Its time we started loving our planet like its the only one we have. Ill be in Times Square today 3/25 near the corner of 46th and Broadway from noon to 3pm to raise money for Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit that works to safeguard the earthits people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Come give me some bucks and a hugIll pass it on to the trees. (PLEASE NOTE: all tree-touching in the above photo was consensual.)

Health. Passion. Freedom. Strength. Care. For 100 Years. #StandWithPP

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My life-size Mike Pence cutout arrived today. Let the games begin...

Tax March DC, April 15, 2017.

GQ says the hottest look this summer is activism. Check out the June issue!

Im making sure every hair is in its proper place for my upcoming weekend in DC for Capital Pride. Join me for Pride + Shine at Urbana Restaurant to raise the roof and raise some funds for Trevor Project on June 10 from 10am-6pm. Come fuel up and fun up before you get your march on! #MikeHotPence #CapitalPride

Happy National Selfie Day! Ill be out this evening 6/21 from 6:30pm to 8pm near the corner of 46th and Broadway raising money for International Refugee Assistance Project. So come chuck some bucks in my collection jug and snap a selfie. The skies are fair and my thighs are bare!

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Pannell believes Trump has been working hard to roll back some of the progress made by the LGBT community under the Obama administration.

Since Trump's inauguration in January, LGBT activists have grown embittered by the current administration's rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

And many members and allies of the community, including Pannell, complain that Trump, who campaigned in 2016 as a potential ally of the community, staffed his team with opponents of LGBT rights, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and, more notably, the next in line for the presidency in the event Trump is unseated, Vice President Mike Pence.

But as far as the talk of Trump or Pence as president goes, "it really is a sort of pick your poison dilemma, Pannell said when considering his look-alike's staunch opposition towards LGBT rights. "Do you want unfocused and dangerous or focused and dangerous?"

For many in the LGBT community, it's no secret that Pence has long stood against the expansion of rights for gay and lesbian couples. But, for many, his distaste for LGBT equality goes even further.

SEE ALSO: LGBT groups: 'We are at war' with Trump during Pride month and beyond

As governor of Indiana, Pence attracted the public's attention when he signed into law a bill that legalized the refusal of service to gay and transgender people on account of the business' religious freedom, for example, a bakery that cited its religious freedom as probable cause to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex couple getting married.

"The sad reality is that if [Trump] is impeached or if he resigns, then we are stuck with a President Pence," which Pannell adds might actually be more dangerous for the LGBT community.

And he is not alone.

Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and CEO of GLAAD, agreed, telling AOL News: "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."

Though the early administration of Trump has been criticized for its perceived anti-LGBT appointments and decisions like proposing cuts in funding for HIV and AIDS research, many still predict worse would happen for the LGBT community in the event of an actual Pence presidency.

"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."

Images from LGBTQ Pride month 2017:

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BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 27: Thousands of members of the LGBTQ community gathered today for the Birmingham Pride parade on May 27, 2017 in Birmingham, England. The Birmingham Pride is an annual festival for the LGBTQ community usually taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday. The event begins with a parade from Victoria Square in the city center to the Gay Village in Hurst Street. PHOTOGRAPH BY Jim Wood / Barcroft Images London-T:+44 207 033 1031 E:hello@barcroftmedia.com - New York-T:+1 212 796 2458 E:hello@barcroftusa.com - New Delhi-T:+91 11 4053 2429 E:hello@barcroftindia.com http://www.barcroftimages.com (Photo credit should read Jim Wood / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

A picture taken on June 5, 2017 shows a new green pedestrian crossing symbol depicting a same-sex couple in Madrid as the capital will host this year's World Pride festival from June 23 to July 2. / AFP PHOTO / OSCAR DEL POZO (Photo credit should read OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken on June 5, 2017 shows a new green pedestrian crossing symbol depicting a same-sex couple in Madrid as the capital will host this year's World Pride festival from June 23 to July 2. / AFP PHOTO / OSCAR DEL POZO (Photo credit should read OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

QUEENS, NY - JUNE 4: Members of New York City's gay, lesbian and transgender community prepare to march in the Queens Gay Pride parade on June 4, 2017 in Jackson Heights, Queens. The parade route down Northern Boulevard travels through a working class immigrant neighborhood. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

QUEENS, NY - JUNE 4: Members of New York City's gay, lesbian and transgender community prepare to march in the Queens Gay Pride parade on June 4, 2017 in Jackson Heights, Queens. The parade route down Northern Boulevard travels through a working class immigrant neighborhood. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

<> on September 29, 2016 in New York City.

BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 27: Thousands of members of the LGBTQ community gathered today for the Birmingham Pride parade on May 27, 2017 in Birmingham, England. The Birmingham Pride is an annual festival for the LGBTQ community usually taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday. The event begins with a parade from Victoria Square in the city center to the Gay Village in Hurst Street. PHOTOGRAPH BY Jim Wood / Barcroft Images London-T:+44 207 033 1031 E:hello@barcroftmedia.com - New York-T:+1 212 796 2458 E:hello@barcroftusa.com - New Delhi-T:+91 11 4053 2429 E:hello@barcroftindia.com http://www.barcroftimages.com (Photo credit should read Jim Wood / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 27: Thousands of members of the LGBTQ community gathered today for the Birmingham Pride parade on May 27, 2017 in Birmingham, England. The Birmingham Pride is an annual festival for the LGBTQ community usually taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday. The event begins with a parade from Victoria Square in the city center to the Gay Village in Hurst Street. PHOTOGRAPH BY Jim Wood / Barcroft Images London-T:+44 207 033 1031 E:hello@barcroftmedia.com - New York-T:+1 212 796 2458 E:hello@barcroftusa.com - New Delhi-T:+91 11 4053 2429 E:hello@barcroftindia.com http://www.barcroftimages.com (Photo credit should read Jim Wood / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

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However, the divisive nature of both Trump and Pence's positions on gay and transgender issues made it difficult for Rea Carey, the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, to ponder which man would be better or worse for the LGBT community.

"They are both terrible as is third in line, Paul Ryan and fourth in line Orrin Hatch," Carey said in a statement to AOL News. "They all represent policies that are designed to reverse progress and to hold back lived freedom, justice, equality, and equity for LGBTQ people and everyone."

During his campaign, LGBT leaders were alarmed when Trump promised to nullify all of Obama's executive orders, including an order that protected federal contractors from anti-LGBT discrimination, which many are saying weakens the protections of LGBT employees.

But leaders say Pence has done little since his days in Congress to suggest he disagrees with the president's actions.

The vice president's history of opposition to gay rights dates back to his first congressional campaign in 2000 when he argued against same-sex marriage and non-discrimination laws that protected members of the LGBT community.

The self-described "Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order" politician also said being gay was a choice before a group of 100 conservative House members in 2006 as head of the Republican Study Committee. He even cited a Harvard researcher to justify the views stated in his speech, saying, "societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family."

SEE ALSO: The internet has fallen in love with a couple who recreated their Pride March photo

David Stacy, the Government Affairs Director of the Human Rights Campaign, also said it's difficult to draw a distinction between a Trump or Pence presidency in relation to its impact on LGBT rights.

Stacy said he thinks the country is already seeing "Mike-Pence policies" being pursued across the nation.

"Mike Pence appears to be quite empowered in this administration," Stacy said. "His people that are most ideologically similar to him, who are most in agreement around LGBTQ issues, are the one's that seem to be making decisions, whether it's Tom Price and HHS or its the Attorney General."

But, even if the political climate drastically changes by way of the growing FBI investigation into the Trump campaign's relationship with Russian officials, Stacy contends the struggle for gay and transgender rights will inevitably continue.

"The country is in a different place," Stacy said, citing stats from a 2015 Gallup Poll revealing 60 percent of Americans to be in support of same-sex marriage, including the "majority of Republicans," which he said is evidence that "the country is way ahead of the politicians."

He is not entirely optimistic, however, that the Trump administration will change its stance on LGBT issues anytime soon.

"I think we have an administration that isn't being driven by what's popular," Stacy concluded. "They're being driving by ideological agenda and, unfortunately, that ideological agenda includes an anti-LGBTQ agenda.

Click through images from LGBTQ protests outside Ivanka Trump's home:

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Protestors rally during the Queer Dance Party for Climate Change outside the home of Assistant to the President Ivanka Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Protestors rally during the Queer Dance Party for Climate Change outside the home of Assistant to the President Ivanka Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Protestors rally during the Queer Dance Party for Climate Change outside the home of Assistant to the President Ivanka Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

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More from AOL.com: US Vice President Mike Pence hires his own lawyer for Russia probes After weeks of secrecy, US Senate to unveil healthcare bill Poll: Feelings on Trump administration's relationship with Russia unchanged amid House Intel Committee probe

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Mike Pence's doppelgnger says Pence would be worse than Trump as president - AOL

Vice President Mike Pence gave Attorney General Jeff Sessions the White House's vote of confidence Wednesday after a few weeks of turmoil and questions about the relationship between President Trump and Sessions.

"Thank you to this attorney general for your leadership at the Department of Justice," Pence told a crowd at the National Summit on Crime Reduction and Public Safety just outside of Washington.

Pence praised Sessions as a "law and order attorney general" and said both he and President Trump "are proud and honored to have him at our side."

The words come roughly a week after Sessions fended off lawmakers at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing who pressed him on his alleged contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign when he was advising Trump on foreign policy.

Sessions defended his actions including his failure to originally disclose two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at one point calling the idea of collusion "an appalling and detestable lie."

There have been reports of turmoil between Sessions and Trump, the New York Times reported earlier this month. Following the report, Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump has "confidence" in Sessions after multiple attempts to avoid the question.

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Mike Pence tells Jeff Sessions: Trump 'proud' to have you as attorney general - Washington Examiner