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INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana Statehouse Newsroom) - Vice President Mike Pence returned to Indiana this week for some home support after announcing he's hired outside legal help while an investigation takes place.

On Friday, his newly formed political action committee hosted the fundraising event at a downtown Indianapolis hotel. "Happy to have him back," Brownsburg resident Tim Rushenberg said. "I think he did a great job as governor, and I think he's doing a fantastic job as vice president."

But not all Hoosiers are glad to see him return. "No, not at all," Indianapolis resident Amoni Kinnard said. "I just wish we could do a re-vote again."

The general election vote is a lingering issue. A special prosecutor is looking into whether the president's team had ties to Russia during the election.

An investigation that's forced Vice President Pence to hire his own attorney, Richard Cullen. "Certainly it's a sign that something serious is going on," attorney Peter Rusthoven said. "It's not a sign that there's any misconduct by the vice president."

Peter Rusthoven is no stranger to White House legal advice. He served as his associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan for four years.

While Rusthoven was paid with taxpayer money, the attorney Vice President Pence hired he says will not. "This is an individual knows his way around Washington," Rusthoven said. "Knows his way around the criminal justice system, and brings to his job not just legal skills, but the kind of judgment of how one should respond and deal with a special counsel's office."

Rusthoven said the counsel is needed to help the vice president deal with legal questions. "You just want to be guided through the process so that you don't inadvertently make a mistake when you didn't even intend to."

Outside help he believes will stick with the v ice president for awhile. "It is a sign that this is not just some one day story," Rusthoven said. "It's likely going to hang around for awhile."

As for Friday's fundraising event it costs upwards of $5,000 to get inside. Outside the hotel, Vice President Pence was greeted to a dozen protestors.

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Vice President Mike Pence Returns to IN - Tristatehomepage.com

The key question after James Comeys testimony is: What did Mike PenceMike (Michael) Richard PenceIts time for Mike Pence to come clean Dem: Trump has 'incredible emphasis on jobs, jobs, jobs' for lawyers Pence to visit Central, South America in August MORE know, and when did he know it?

Yes, the question the nation asked more than a generation ago during Watergate is the same question which needs to be asked in the latest White House scandal.

Lets go through some key facts and dates:

Dec. 29, 2016: Flynn speaks with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about the sanctions recently placed on Russia by the Obama administration.

Dec. 30: Vladimir Putin announces that Russia will not take action in response to the sanctions.

Jan. 4, 2017: Flynn informs the Trump transition team, which Pence headed, that he is under investigation for failing to register as an agent of the Turkish government.

Jan. 12: The Washington Post reports that Flynn and Kislyak spoke the day before Putins announcement.

Jan. 14: Flynn and Pence speak about the situation. Pence claims that Flynn told him that the sanctions against Russia were not discussed with Kislyak.

Jan. 15: Pence goes on Face the Nation and states that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador a statement that proved blatantly false.

Jan. 26: Sally Yates and an aide go to the White House to speak with Don McGahn, the White House counsel. They explain that Flynn has been compromised and that he needs to inform the President, Vice President, and others.

Jan. 27: McGahn asks Yates to return to the White House to further discuss the matter.

Jan. 30: Trump fires Yates after she refuses to enforce his travel ban.

Feb. 9: The Washington Post reports that Flynn discussed the sanctions with Kislyak. A spokesperson for Pence claims that the VP had been unaware.

Feb. 10: Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump earns 8M as Mar-a-Lago profits spike FBI refuses to release Comey memos while investigation ongoing Yes, Trump is privatizing the VA MORE also claims that he was unaware that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions.

February 13th: It is reported that the White House knew about the nature of Flynns discussions with Kislyak for weeks.

Now we come to James Comeys testimony. According to Comey, as far as he understood it, the Vice President was aware of the nature of Flynns discussion with Kislyak.

If you are to believe otherwise, youd have to be willing to believe that somehow others in the White House knew, including the President, but not the Vice President, who was busy speaking on news outlets and saying the complete opposite.

Youd have to believe that McGahn, who, according to Sean Spicer, conducted an exhaustive and extensive questioning of Flynn, did not, for some reason, inform the Vice President. It would mean that either McGahn was not doing his job and Pence didnt know, or Pence is not telling the truth and covering the White House.

Shouldnt we ask McGahn in order to find out?

And why wouldnt Trump stop Pence from repeating the inaccurate information?

And if Pence isnt telling the truth, we again must ask why. Why would Pence continually mislead the public about his knowledge of Flynns interaction with Kislyak?

If you ask yourself that question, you cant help but reach the conclusion that it could only be for nefarious purposes.

Comey also indicated that Attorney General Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsTrump allies Roger Stone, Jesse Ventura launch pro-cannabis group Its time for Mike Pence to come clean Dem: Trump has 'incredible emphasis on jobs, jobs, jobs' for lawyers MORE potentially could not be trusted when it came to the Russia/Flynn situation.

Again: Why?

Then, when Comey himself refused to let the Russia matter drop, he was pressured by Trump and then suddenly and unceremoniously canned. Coincidence?

The question remains: What happened between Pence and McGahn and why was the Vice President continuing to make claims that the administration knew were false?

Can Mr. Pence answer that one?

Ross Rosenfeld is a political pundit who has written for Newsday, the New York Daily News, Charles Scribner's, MacMillan, Newsweek.com, Primedia and The Hill.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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It's time for Mike Pence to come clean - The Hill (blog)

Vice President Mike Pences decision to hire his own lawyer for the special counsel investigation into alleged ties between Donald Trumps presidential campaign and the Russian government can mean one of two things or perhaps even both things at the same time.

Either Pence is concerned that he may face charges of his own, or believingthat he isinnocent he wants to separate his own legal fate from that of a president whose innocence he (for good reason) doubts.

If the latter prospect is true, of course, its doubtful that Pence will ever admit this publicly. As the Watergate scandal began to swallow up Richard Nixon, and Vice President Gerald Ford was confronted with the prospect that he would be thrust into the presidency, Ford nevertheless maintained his public defenses of the president. This was both politically necessary (Nixon was a fellow Republican, after all) and morally astute (it would be unseemly for the man who might benefit from Nixons downfall to seem to contribute to it).

Although Pence should avoid defending Trump so vehemently that he winds up looking complicit, it is best for him to refrain from seeming over-eager at ascending to the White House himself. That said, if he has sound reason to suspect that Trump is about to take a mighty fall, it is wise for him to determine how he can best protect himself from a strictly legal standpoint.

This, by necessity, means he must at least partially decouple his fate from that of the president he serves.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Pence has reasons to be worried about his own future with the law. He does have at least one major scandal from his own past in 1990, he used campaign funds to pay his mortgage and other personal expenses, which, though not illegal at the time, was regarded as highly unethical and it is not inconceivable that there is something brewing beneath the surface that the public simply doesnt know about. The only vice president to resign due to scandal, Richard Nixons own Spiro Agnew, did so not because of Watergate but for the entirely unrelated reason thathe received over a quarter million dollars in bribes. It has long been speculated that prosecutors were eager to cut a juicy deal for Agnew so that he would resign before Nixon and an honest man could be appointed as his successor (Ford) to wait in the wings should Watergate destroy Nixon.

Perhaps, like Agnew, Pence was involved in an unknownscandal completely unrelated to the Russia shenanigans. Of course, it is also possible that Pence is personally involved in the Russia-related mess, especially considering the legendbehind how he became Trumps vice president. The former reality TV star had apparently been set on choosing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as his running mate until his campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort, claimed there were mechanical issues with Trumps plane as it waited on the tarmac in Indiana, which bought time for Trumpto be wooed by Pence.

Manafort, you may recall, is under investigation by the FBI for his own potential connections to Russia, not the least of which is his work for Putins puppet in Ukraine,Viktor Yanukovych.

As I contemplate Pences possible political future, I recall a story I wrote in March about the man. I had sent out word among Indiana Democrats that I was interested in hearing their take on who the man was and what kind of president he might be. I left with the impression that he was a governor who, regardless of what you might think of his ideas, was not very effective at getting them implemented; by contrast to another, more effective Republican Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels, whom one legislator described asthe man with the plan.Pence was also depicted as a hard-line conservative, albeit somewhat more generic in his views than the absurd ideological expediency that definesTrump.

Most important, however, was this observation by House Minority Leader Scott Pelath:

Mike Pence has the prerequisite understanding of political customs, American history, and the three branches of government. My sleep would resume its normal patterns until the nation made a change and we could move on.

Assuming that Pence is in Fords situation and not Agnews, I would agree with Pelaths assessment. It is becoming increasingly difficult to believe that Trump isnt at the very least guilty of obstruction of justice, and more likely of electoral dirty tricks that would put Tricky Dick himself to shame. If Trump has obstructed justice, and especially if he did collude with Russia to sabotage Hillary Clintons campaign, then we would be far better off with Pence in the White House than Trump.

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Is Mike Pence pulling a Gerald Ford or a Spiro Agnew? - Salon

Vice President Mike Pence had harsh words for Freedom Caucus members of the House during a meeting over the Republican health care bill, bringing several grown men to tears, according to a Politico report.

In a profile detailing Pences tightrope act as President Donald Trumps VP, Politicos Tim Alberta described Pences efforts to convince the hardline Freedom Caucus to support the first attempt at passing a health care bill in the House, which eventually failed.

Once it looked as though the bill would be going down in flames, on March 24 the nearly three dozen members of the Freedom Caucus gathered on Capitol Hill to plot their next move in secret. According to Politico:

Not long after they had gathered, however, the door was flung open and in marched Pence. He was accompanied by Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and neither man was smiling.

Pence himself a former member of the Tea Party Caucus reportedly pleaded with members to hop on board with the bill, and let loose an uncharacteristic flash of anger:

I was the Freedom Caucus before the Freedom Caucus existed, Pence told them, his voice rising, according to multiple people who were in the room. Dont try to tell me this bill isnt conservative enough.

According to Politico, the appeal worked: After Pence abruptly exited the meeting, and several grown men had broken into tears because of the tension present in the room, a chorus of Freedom Caucus members informed Chairman Meadows that they would now support the legislation if a vote were held.

It was too late, however, as Paul Ryans coalition of moderates had by then fallen apart, and the AHCA never saw the floor that day though a second attempt, championed by Ryan and Pence, passed through the House in May.

Read the extended profile over at Politico.

[image via screengrab]

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Mike Pence's Fury With House Health Bill Reportedly Brought Grown Men to Tears - Mediaite

Only two years ago, the White House was bright with the colors of the rainbow, lit up in order to celebrate the momentous Supreme Court decision declaringgay marriage legal once and for all. The decision was handed down at the end of June Pride Month and it felt like a beacon of hope, a sign of good things to come.

But this month, President Donald Trump has notacknowledged what has historically been considered a month of celebration, activism, and remembrance for the LGBTQ+ community.

Bill Clinton first established June as Gay & Lesbian Pride month in 2000 with his Proclamation 7316, according to the Library of Congress.While George W. Bush didnt acknowledge Pride Month during his eight years in office,Barack Obama acknowledged the designated celebration every single year.

Perhaps Trumps silence on the matter is no surprise: he has populated his administration with vocally anti-LGBTQ+members including his Vice President, Mike Pence.

Penceis, of late, most famousfor calling his wife Mother and refusing to dine alone with women. But the career politician has, over the years, made headlines for his consistently anti-LGBTQ+ views.

As we hit the middle of Pride Month held in June to commemorate the activists who began the modern gay rights movement atthe Stonewall Riots were rounding up the ways in which Pence has consistently voted against rights for the LGBTQ+ community as a pressing reminder of why we still need to push for acceptance and rights.

In 2000, Pence ran for a House seat representingIndianas Second District. BuzzFeeds Andrew Kaczynskiuncovered an archived version of his campaign website.

Among other policy promises, the site included stancesthat Congress should oppose equal legal status for gay marriage and that Congress should oppose defining the LGBTQ+ community as a protected class similar to women and ethnic minorities.

The siteadditionally stated that Congress should only support the reauthorization ofthe Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act the largest federally funded resource for those living with HIV/AIDS if money was no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus and instead directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.

While this is not an explicit statement of support for conversion therapy, there is a long, established history of homophobia couched in the way HIV is publicly discussed, and including the conditional support for an HIV/AIDS resource in an otherwise explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ policy proposal speaks volumes for the context of the proposal.

As just a wee House Representative(this time for Indianas Sixth District), Pence ledthe Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus that, in 2006, released alegislative agenda that sought to, among other things, ban gay marriage and legally define marriage as between one man and one woman.

In his speech, then-Rep. Pence stated, societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.

Taken on its own, it reads a bit melodramatic, if hollow. But given that he was giving an impassioned speech demanding that marriage be defined as between one man and one woman, theres no skirting around the real meaning behind the deterioration of marriage and collapse of society.

While individual states had non-discrimination laws that covered LGBTQ+ individuals on the books, it was not federally mandated. So in 2007, a bill was introduced to Congress that would offer protections to LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace.

Pence voted no and even made a speech, stating that this sets up something of a constitutional conflict between the right to religious freedom in the workplace and another persons newly created right to sue you for practicing your faith or acknowledging your faith in the workplace.

He even said that, if the bill passed, someone with a Bible on their desk would be at risk of being sued by a homosexual employee.

In 2009,an expansion to the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Act was introduced to Congress. The bill proposedprotections to individuals based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It additionally removed the requirement that protected classes be engaging in federally protected activity (such as voting).

Pence voted nobased on his belief that it would threaten religious freedom,but it passed and was signed into law by Obama in October 2009.

Also included in his 2000 campaign website was a tidbit about LGBTQ+ individuals serving in the military. He stated that he was against Dont Ask, Dont Tell but not because it discriminated against openly gay individuals.

Rather, he thought it condoned gay people serving in the military. Pence stated,Homosexuality is incompatible with military service because the presence of homosexuals in the ranks weakens unit cohesion.

Unsurprisingly, he came out against Obamas attempt to repeal DADT, because it would have allowed LGBTQ+ individuals to serve openly. He even you guessed it made a speech.

Surrounded by known anti-LGBTQ+ advocates, then-Governor Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which effectively allowed Indiana businesses to turn away customers based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

The Indiana law allows businesses to cite their religious beliefs as cause for denying customers.

Met with intense criticism and a loss of state revenue to the tune of $60 million due to boycotts, Pence later walked back the original bill and added an amendment stating LGBTQ+ individuals would be protected from discrimination.

But the timing of the bill was nonetheless suspicious, given that Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which turned away a lesbian couple and later doxxed them, was heavily fined for discrimination and causing emotional harm to the couple.

As one of the first governors to react to Obamas transgender bathroom access directive, Pence strongly opposed the directive, stating that it should be left up to states and individuals schools to decide whats right for students.

During the presidential campaign, Pence said Trump would resolve the issue. Trump signed an executive order overturning protections for trans students in February 2017.

LGBTQ+ advocates are standing by to see if the Trump administration will be passing future laws and orders that could hurt the community.

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Lisa is a news writer based in Portland, Oregon. She is currently researching and writing about abortion in America for her MFA in Creative Nonfiction.

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Mike Pence's Record On LGBTQ+ Rights Is A Sad Sight For Pride Month - Elite Daily