OP-ED WASN’T ME, SAYS PENCE.

White House still seeking author of piece

• Vice-President Mike Pence said he was never part of discussions to remove U.S. President Donald Trump from office, and would take a lie-detector test “in a heartbeat” to prove that he wasn’t the author of last week’s anonymous New York Times op-ed, who claimed to be part of a resistance movement within the Trump administration.

In interviews with Fox News Sunday and CBS’ Face the Nation that aired Sunday, Pence also said that he is “100-per-cent certain” that no one from his staff authored the op-ed and that he would be “more than willing” to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his ongoing Russia probe.

Trump has stepped up his calls for the Justice Department to investigate the author of the piece, which described a “two-track presidency” in which some senior aides are actively working to thwart Trump’s “misguided impulses” and have even discussed removing the president from office via the 25th Amendment.

They also come as former president Barack Obama harshly criticized Trump and Republican politics, comparing Trump in a speech Friday to demagogues around the world who exploit “a politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment.”

Asked by Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan whether he had participated in any discussions with other cabinet members about removing Trump from office, Pence replied, “No. Never. And why would we be, Margaret?”

In the interview with Fox News Channel, Pence denied he was the author of the oped and said he would gladly submit to a lie-detector test.

But he declined to say if he believes all top officials should be made to do the same, saying it was a decision for Trump to make.

Trump has repeatedly said that he believes Attorney General Jeff Sessions should launch an investigation to find out who the author of the piece was, citing national security grounds.