Vice President Mike Pence plans to oversee the Electoral College
vote on January 6th, and then leave the country for a trip to
Israel, Bahrain, and Poland.
Politico reported last week that Vice President Pence is
tentatively planning a trip to the countries of Israel, Bahrain,
and Poland, and will be leaving the country directly after he takes
charge of counting the Electoral College votes in Congress on
January 6th. One Pence ally told Politico that the timing of the
trip is “anything but coincidental.”
“On the surface, the trip is part of a push to underscore the
Trump administration’s role in brokering a series of diplomatic
agreements to normalize relations between Israel and a handful of
Arab countries, including Bahrain,”
Politico notes. “[But the Israel trip also] allows Pence…
to put distance between himself and Trump’s complaints about the
election outcome that are likely to intensify after Congress
affirms Biden’s win.”
The Vice President has been notably quiet regarding the
President’s push for election integrity. Instead, Pence has spent
his time since the election doing practically anything but: Pence
has spent time campaigning down in Georgia, focusing on the
pro-life policies of the administration, and working on the
production of the coronavirus vaccine as the head of the
coronavirus task force.
National File revealed the existence of a draft White House
memo entitled “Operation Pence Card,” that sources within the
Trump administration sent to National File. In the memo, they
reveal that Vice President Pence not only has the power to reject
Electoral College votes from states that violated the Constitution,
but is “duty bound” to do so. As National File reported:
National File’s sources in the White House indicated that the
memo was requested by those in the President’s circle who are
most keen to see the 2020 election, and the ensuing fallout,
administered in as transparent of a manner as possible. They also
indicate that the push to find a path to verify the 2020
election’s integrity is not coming solely from the White House,
but also comes from across numerous agencies in the
administration.The revelation that Pence alone can reject allegedly fraudulent
Electoral College certificates shifts the spotlight from President
Trump and Congressional leaders significantly by putting President
Trump’s electoral destiny squarely on Pence’s shoulders.
If Vice President Pence does decide to get on board and support
the President, it’s likely his trip to Israel and the rest of the
region would likely either be rescheduled, or simply cancelled
altogether.