Vice President Mike Pence addresses the crowd at Senator Joni Ernst's 3rd annual charity motorcycle ride to benefit military veterans at the Central Iowa Expo center in Boone Iowa, 3 June, 2017. (Shutterstock)
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-connected lawyer promising compromising information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But back in January, Mike Pence vehemently denied that Trump campaign members had any contact with Russian officials.
"Did any adviser or anybody in the Trump campaign have any contact with the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election?" John Dickerson of "Face the Nation" asked the vice president-elect on January 15.
"Oh, of course not," Pence responded. "And I think to suggest that is to give—to give credence—to some of these... bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy and the fact that a few news organizations—not this one—actually trafficked in a memo that was produced as opposition research and associated that with intelligence efforts, I think could only be attributed to media bias."
In the same interview, Pence also defended incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn, who he said “did not discuss [with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak] anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia."
Flynn resigned less than a month later.
Watch the full interview:
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