Pence laughs off Russian agent claim
In a nationally televised interview Friday, Gov. Mike Pence laughed off a former CIA acting director's assertions in The New York Times that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has become an "unwitting agent" for the Russian government.
"I suppose this is the same CIA that told the president that ISIS was the JV team," Pence told NBC News' Savannah Guthrie during a segment on the Today show.
"I mean come on Savannah, these people are playing politics," said Pence, Trump's running mate.
In an op-ed published Friday, Michael J. Morell, the acting director and deputy director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence officer, used flattery to exploit Trump's "obvious need for self-aggrandizement" and other weaknesses.
"In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation," Morell wrote in the editorial in which he publicly announced his support for Hillary Clinton.
Pence laughed when Guthrie asked about Morell's comments.
"Look, people know that Donald Trump knows how to stand up and he knows how to stand strong," Pence said. "Standing up to Russian aggression is going to be really different under a Trump-Pence administration."
Pence, with wife Karen at his side, was speaking from the Indiana State Fair. He defended Trump and attacked Clinton and President Obama repeatedly during the five-minute interview.
Pence downplayed recent polls that show Trump lagging Clinton.
"It's very early in this campaign still," Pence said. "The only poll that really matters is on Election Day."
Pence deflected a question about Republicans who have crossed party lines to support Clinton.
"Donald Trump and I are standing shoulder to shoulder to say to the American people, 'We can be strong again.' Most Americans are reeling this week with the news that the Obama administration delivered $400 million in cash to the Mullahs in Iran on the very day that they released four hostages. The president, Savannah, can say that wasn't a ransom payment, but the whole world knows that it was.
"The president and this administration have endangered the lives of every American on the world stage."
Pence responded to question about Trump's recent comments regarding the parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed fighting in Iraq in 2004, by saying America will be a stronger nation with Trump in the White House.
"This man (Trump) has a heart for our soldiers. Donald Trump and I have both said Capt. Kahn is a hero. His family should be cherished," Pence said. "We've got to rebuild this military. We've got to stand with our soldiers. We've got to give them the resources that they need to defend this country."