Newsweek: REMEMBER PAUL MANAFORT PICKED MIKE PENCE [View all]

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https://www.newsweek.com/next-president-donald-trump-pence-manafort-1085151

A now convicted felon and a Russia asset, Paul Manafort, picked Mike Pence to be V.P..


The astonishing claim by Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that he was directed by the president to pay hush-money to two women before the 2016 election has some renewing the call for Trump's impeachment.

While it is unlikely that Trump will be charged for breaking federal campaign finance laws due to longstanding regulations within the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be indicted, Congress can still determine if Tuesday's events are grounds for impeachment. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon told White House Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs that "today clarifies that November is a referendum on impeachment, an up or down vote."

If Trump were to be removed from office, Vice President Mike Pence would take his place as commander-in-chief for the remainder of Trump's first term until 2020. Pence has dutifully stood by the president during his time in the White House, but little attention has been paid to how the former governor of Indiana rose to the position of the vice presidency during the 2016 election.

Before Trump officially announced that Pence would be his running mate, campaign chairman Paul Manafort was the man behind the mirror making sure it happened, according to a New York Times report from 2016.

Manafort was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday on eight counts of financial crimes, including tax fraud, hiding foreign bank accounts and bank fraud. The case was the first to be brought to trial as part of Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.