A Democratic super PAC that sank nearly $20 million into the 2016 presidential race is already gearing up for a potential bid by Vice President Mike Pence.
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic opposition super PAC funded by liberal mega donors, is seizing on reports that Pence’s team has set up a “shadow campaign” to begin compiling opposition research against the vice president. Pence denies that he is plotting a run.
Just three years before the 2020 election the group has employed three staffers solely dedicated to Pence and has already begun work generating Freedom of Information Act requests in an attempt to discredit his claims of ignorance as it relates to the Russia probe.
“If he’s running for president, we are going to be prepared,” Shripal Shah, vice president of the group told BuzzFeed News.
The group says it has already obtained documents through a Freedom of Information Act request that reveal Pence signed documents that hold him responsible for “Transition Procedures, Identification of Transition Contacts, and Access to Non-public Government and Transition Information.” Those documents, the group argues, undercut Pence’s claims that he was unaware of fired national security adviser Mike Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials.
“Pence wants the public to think he’s removed from Trump’s scandals, but that’s a lie, he’s not,” Shah said. “He’s complicit in all of it, dating back to the transition, Michael Flynn, and Russia. His signature on the public documents we’ve uncovered discredit his attempts to plead ignorance.”
In light of the fallout from President Trump’s reaction to the violent Charlottesville, Va., rally the group is also looking to help Democrats build the case that Pence was soft on hate crimes and white supremacist groups during his tenure as Indiana governor. They are quick to point out Indiana is the headquarters for several hate groups and a 2016 Associated Press investigation that found more than half of Indiana law enforcement agencies did not report hate crime data to the FBI.
“There’s no daylight between Trump and Pence and we’re going to make sure people know that,” Shah added. “We’re only getting started.”
