Pence: I’d face lie-detector to prove I’m not White House mole
THE vice-president of the United States said yesterday that he was willing to take a lie-detector test to prove he did not write the damning New York Times anonymous article that rocked the White House last week.
Mike Pence is one of several senior administration officials who have publicly denied that they wrote the article.
The piece, headlined “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration”, claimed there had been discussions to invoke the 25th amendment, which allows for removal of a president if he or she is deemed unfit to carry out the duties of their office. Donald Trump has demanded an investigation to identify the rogue staff member.
Mr Pence told Fox News Sunday it would be for the president to decide if lie detectors should be used to find the culprit. But he said: “I would agree to take it in a heartbeat and would submit to any review the administration wanted to do. The honourable thing to do here is for this individual to recognise that they are literally violating an oath,” he said.
“If they are a senior administration official, that they are violating an oath – not to the president, but to the constitution.” He added: “It’s all an effort to distract attention from this booming economy and from the president’s record of success.”
On CBS’S Face the Nation yesterday, Mr Pence said: “This president is tough. He’s demanding. He wants things yesterday. And I think it’s one of the reasons why we’ve accomplished so much in such a short period of time. President Donald Trump is the most accomplished president of my lifetime, and I think already one of the most successful presidents in American history.”
Mr Pence also called for an end to Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“It’s been about a year since this investigation began. Our administration has provided over a million documents; we’ve fully cooperated in it, and in the interest of the country I think it’s time to wrap it up,” he said. Asked if he would be willing to be interviewed by the special prosecutor, he replied: “I would.”
Yesterday Bob Woodward, whose explosive new book, Fear: Trump in the White House, describes how top aides to Mr Trump have attempted to limit what they see as his dangerous behaviour, told CBS Sunday Morning he would not have published the article.