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The accolades directed at Speaker Mike Johnson in recent days for finally defying the right wing of his party and allowing an aid bill for Ukraine to move through the House might have seemed a tad excessive.

After all, a speakers entire job is to move legislation through the House, and as Saturdays vote to pass the bill demonstrated, the Ukraine measure had overwhelming support. But Mr. Johnsons feat was not so different from that of another embattled Republican who faced a difficult choice under immense pressure from hard-right Republicans and was saluted as a hero for simply doing his job: former Vice President Mike Pence.

When Mr. Pence refused former President Donald J. Trumps demands that he overturn the 2020 election results as he presided over the electoral vote count by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 even as an angry mob with baseball bats and pepper spray invaded the Capitol and chanted hang Mike Pence the normally unremarkable act of performing the duties in a vice presidents job description was hailed as courageous.

Mr. Pence and now Mr. Johnson represent the most high-profile examples of a stark political reality: In todays Republican Party, subsumed by Mr. Trump, taking the norm-preserving, consensus-driven path can spell the end of your political career.

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Pence, both mild-mannered, extremely conservative evangelical Christians who have put their faith at the center of their politics, occupy a similar space in their party. They have both gone through contortions to accommodate Mr. Trump and the forces he unleashed in their party, which in turn have ultimately come after them. Mr. Pence spent four years dutifully serving the former president and defending all of his words and actions. Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, played a lead role in trying to overturn the election results on Mr. Trumps behalf.

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Mike Johnson, Like Pence, Does What Passes for Brave in Todays GOP: His Job - The New York Times

In late spring of 2016, even as Donald J. Trump won the Indiana presidential primary with 53.6% of the vote, the Republican establishment was slow to come around. Gov. Mike Pence had given his milquetoast endorsement to Sen. Ted Cruz. Only former GOP Chair Rex Early and Sullivan County Chairman Bill Springer were on board with the Manhattan billionaire when the national convention delegates were announced.

Then came the veepstakes, with Pence slowly rising to the top of the pecking order by mid-July. Once the Trump/Pence ticket had formed, the Indiana establishment came around. After the ticket pulled off the greatest upset in American history when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in November, it paved the way for more than two dozen Hoosier Republicans to join the fledgling administration.

Now we find the Indiana GOP establishment divided over the Trump question once again. Those who worked for President Trump are not embracing a second term.

Pence was the most conspicuous. After a lot of prayer and reflection, Ive come to the conclusion that I wont be endorsing Donald Trump this year, Pence said earlier this month on CBSs Face the Nation. I worked day in and day out for four-and-a-half years to build that record of the Trump/Pence administration. Im incredibly proud of it. But as I look at what Donald Trump is running on now, I simply cannot, in good conscience, endorse his candidacy this year.

None of these Hoosier Republicans who served in the Trump administration neither Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, nor former Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short has endorsed or vowed to vote for Trump at this point. U.S. Sen. Todd Young has said he wont vote for Trump (or President Biden). Two Republicans in Congress U.S. Rep. Greg Pence and Larry Bucshon wont seek reelection after backing Mike Pence.

Gov. Eric Holcomb hasnt made an endorsement since Mike Pence folded his campaign last autumn. Well see what role Indiana plays in the whole process, Holcomb told reporters in October. Ill be looking for the individual who best articulates a substantive agenda or plan and then, more importantly, how to execute it.

Those Hoosiers lining up behind Trump in 2024 are most likely on the ballot this year, including the six-person Republican gubernatorial field: U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, who is the heavy favorite to win the U.S. Senate nomination; U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin; and a dozen or so congressional candidates. Attorney General Todd Rokita, who plans to seek renomination at Junes Indiana GOP convention, is backing Trump.

NBC News last summer reached out to 44 of the dozens of people who had served in Trumps cabinet. Four have said publicly they support his run for reelection, including former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker; Trumps final chief of staff, Mark Meadows; former budget chief Russell Vought; and former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

The former presidents 2024 campaign is based on retribution. Trump now calls the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists, who chanted for the murder of Vice President Pence, hostages and has vowed to pardon their convictions, many for assaulting police officers. He has greenlighted an abandonment of Ukraine (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a March 10 broadcast that Trump will cut off funding). Trump has suggested political violence if indicted (he now faces 88 criminal charges).

Pence waged a six-month campaign for the presidency before bowing out last October. He had been endorsed by Holcomb, Coats and Reps. Pence and Bucshon.

NBC News reached out to Coats last summer. I think he has all the qualities to be a great president, Coats said of Pence. I know its a steep climb for him, but I think the steps he has taken now show the integrity of who he is and his qualifications.

Coats did not respond to Howey Politics Indiana about whether hell back Trump in November now that Pence is out of the race.

Adams told Howey Politics on Tuesday: I believe health care and public health should be nonpartisan, and as such I dont endorse candidates or reveal who Im voting for. However, I stand ready to help whoever is president address Americas poor health and inequitable health care system.

Verma, in a 2023 interview with Managed Healthcare Executive magazine, described working in the Trump White House. Make no mistake. It (was) not a normal work environment where you disagree with somebody and it is disagreement. Over there, it was like, were going to take off your head, we are going to come after you. It (was) a pretty toxic environment. Every day, you are kind of like what is going to happen today?

Short told NBC: If its Biden versus Trump, the implicit assumption is efforts to hurt Trump are going to benefit Biden. If youre putting yourself against the Constitution, I think its disqualifying, but I wouldnt want to be helping Biden.

Another former Pence staffer, Alyssa Farah Griffin, told ABC News in December 2023: Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I dont say that lightly.

Brian Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs, where this column was previously published. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol. Send comments to [emailprotected].

Continued here:
Brian Howey: Trumps Hoosiers passing on a second term - Daily Journal

NEW YORK Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has called him a threat to democracy. Former national security adviser John Bolton has declared him unfit to be president. And former Vice President Mike Pence has declined to endorse him, citing profound differences.

As Donald Trump seeks the presidency for a third time, he is being vigorously opposed by a vocal contingent of former officials who are stridently warning against his return to power and offering dire predictions for the country and the rule of law if his campaign succeeds.

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Former Trump officials are among the most vocal opponents of returning him to the White House - Yoursun.com

A judge has recommended that conservative attorney John Eastman lose his Californialaw licenseover his efforts to keep former President Donald Trump in power after the 2020 election.

Eastman, a former law school dean, faces 11 disciplinary charges in the state bar court stemming from his development of a legal strategy to have then-Vice President Mike Pence interfere with the certification of President Joe Bidens victory.

State Bar Court of California Judge Yvette Rolands recommendation, issued Wednesday, now goes to the California Supreme Court for a final ruling on whether he should be disbarred. Eastman can appeal the top courts decision.

Eastmans attorney, Randall A. Miller, said in an email that he and his client were digesting the decision and would have a more complete statement on the judges decision later.

The California State Bar is a regulatory agency and the only court system in the U.S. that is dedicated to attorney discipline.

Eastman separately faces criminal charges in Georgia in the caseaccusing Trump and 18 alliesof conspiring to overturn the Republicans loss in the state. Eastman, who has pleaded not guilty, has argued he was merely doing his job as Trumps attorney when he challenged the results of the 2020 election. He has denounced the case as targeting attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients.

Hes also one of theunnamed co-conspiratorsin theseparate 2020 election interference casebrought by special counsel Jack Smith, but Eastman is not charged in the federal case.

The State Bar of California alleged that Eastmanviolated the states business and professions codeby making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption. In doing so, the agency says he violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy.

In her decision, Roland wrote: In view of the circumstances surrounding Eastmans misconduct and balancing the aggravation and mitigation, the court recommends that Eastman be disbarred.

Eastman was a close adviser to Trump in the run-up to theJan. 6, 2021, attackon the U.S. Capitol. He wrote a memo laying out a plan for Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes for Biden while presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 in order to keep Trump in the White House.

Prosecutors seeking tostrip Eastman of his law licensedepicted him as a Trump enabler who fabricated a baseless theory and made false claims of fraud in hopes of overturning the results of the election.

Eastmans attorney countered that his client never intended to steal the election but was considering ways to delay electoral vote counting so states could investigate allegations of voting improprieties. Trumps claims of fraud were roundly rejected by courts, including by judges Trump appointed.

The judge wasnt persuaded by Eastmans claim that his actions amounted to no more than a dedicated representation of Trump.

It is true that an attorney has a duty to engage in zealous advocacy on behalf of a client, Roland wrote. However, Eastmans inaccurate assertions were lies that cannot be justified as zealous advocacy. Eastman failed to uphold his primary duty of honesty and breached his ethical obligations by presenting falsehoods to bolster his legal arguments. Finally, the court notes that acts of moral turpitude are a departure from professional norms and are unequivocally outside the realm of protection afforded by the First Amendment and the obligation of vigorous advocacy.

The States United Democracy Center, which filed an early ethics complaint against Eastman, cheered the judges decision.

This is a crucial victory in the effort to hold accountable those who tried to overturn the 2020 election. After hearing from almost two dozen witnesses over a 35-day trial, the court found that John Eastman violated his ethical duties to uphold the constitution, said Christine P. Sun, a senior vice president for the nonprofit. This decision sends an unmistakable message: No one is above the law not presidents, and not their lawyers.

Eastman has been a member of the California Bar since 1997, according to its website. He was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. He ran for California attorney general in 2010, finishing second in the Republican primary.

Eastman was dean of Chapman University law school in Southern California from 2007 to 2010 and was a professor at the schoolwhen he retired in 2021after more than 160 faculty members signed a letter calling for the university to take action against him.

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Ex-Trump lawyer and former law school dean who suggested Mike Pence interfere in the election should lose his ... - Fortune

ANDY LEVY (HOST): Last Friday, Donald Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, announced he would not be endorsing his old boss in 2024. Pence said this during a live interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News, but since then, the network has barely mentioned it.Here to discuss is Media Matters senior fellow, Matt Gertz. Matt, thanks so much for being here.

MATT GERTZ (MEDIA MATTERS): Thanks for having me back.

LEVY: Let's start with numbers. How much airtime did Fox give to letting its viewers know about what Pence said? And then, I guess, compare that to CNN and MSNBC.

GERTZ: Sure. So, Fox News gave it four minutes of airtime. CNN gave an hour, 19, and MSNBC clocked in at an hour and 14 minutes. A tiny, tiny fraction of what the other networks provided. Just to stress this, Mike Pence made this statement that he would not endorse Donald Trump during an interview on Fox News.It was their exclusive that they were burying. They made the news and decided that their viewers didn't need to hear it.

LEVY: Yeah. I guess, at the risk of being super obvious, explain why this matters.

GERTZ: I think it's pretty clear that the reason Fox News decided not to cover this story is because they believe it is bad news for Donald Trump.If you think of Fox News as a conservative network, as a network that has deep principles that it is espousing, this is the sort of thing that would make no sense. Right?I mean, Mike Pence, longtime conservative leader, someone that Fox News liked quite a lot for years, but here he is saying that Donald Trump, the person under whom he served in the White House for four years, will not have his support in the election.

You could imagine different people at Fox having different reactions to that, in which some of them might agree with him, some of them might disagree with him, but instead, largely what happened is the whole thing got swept under the rug.And I think the reason for that is that Fox News is not, in fact, a conservative network. It does not have an ideologically conservative position and angle on the news. It is a Trumpian propaganda outlet. It is an outlet that thinks first and foremost about how the news would impact the political efforts of Donald Trump and the Republicans who support him.And viewed from that angle, covering Mike Pence would be a betrayal of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, and so they decided not to mention it virtually at all.

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On The New Abnormal, Matt Gertz explains why the Pence story got swept under the rug: Fox News is a "Trumpian ... - Media Matters for America