Pence denied contacts with WikiLeaks same day Don Jr. actively conspired with WikiLeaks

The shocking new release of emails between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks, which shows the duo actively collaborating for months in an attempt to spread emails stolen from the Clinton campaign by Russian hackers, is a massive blow to Trump’s repeated denials that his campaign worked with foreign saboteurs.

But it is in particular a blow for Mike Pence, who at the exact same time that the correspondence started up, was insisting to the media that no one in the campaign was in touch with WikiLeaks.

In October 2016, Pence gave the following answer when asked by Fox News’ Steve Doocy whether the campaign was “in cahoots” with WikiLeaks:

Nothing could be further from the truth. I think all of us have, you know, have had concerns about WikiLeaks over the years and it’s just a reality of American life today, and of life in the wider world.

This statement came on the exact same day that Trump Jr. posted a link to WikiLeaks — at their request — urging people to visit the site to “read all the corruption and hypocrisy.”

The very same morning Pence said the Trump campaign wasn't "in cahoots" with WikiLeaks, Don Jr. tweeted out a link provided to him by … WikiLeaks. pic.twitter.com/shMIH9puTk

— Chris “Subscribe to Law Dork!” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) November 13, 2017

Just two weeks prior to that exchange, WikiLeaks had made their first contact with Trump Jr., after which he mass-forwarded their conversation to key members of the Trump campaign, including Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, and Hope Hicks.

Pence was not cc’d in that email chain. However, for the running mate in the campaign to not to be cognizant of a lead shared this widely within the group requires a suspension of disbelief — or else the presumption that Pence was massively incompetent.

The denials from the Trump team are getting weaker by the day. It is time to get a clear, definitive answer on who knew what, and when.