Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Confronted with questions about whether he’d support a pardon for Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence told NBC News’ Chuck Todd yesterday, “Let me say first and foremost, I don’t know why some of my competitors in the Republican primary presume the president will be found guilty.”
* Also over the weekend, Pence, who’s pointed to no evidence of actual wrongdoing in federal law enforcement, told The New York Post, “The American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice. And if I’m president of the United States on day one, we’re going to clean house on the top floor of the Department of Justice and bring in a whole new group of people.”
* The New York Times took a closer look at former Ambassador Nikki Haley’s rhetoric, and found that the Republican presidential hopeful has made “inaccurate or misleading claims about abortion, trans youth, foreign policy and domestic issues.”
* There’s been quite a bit of speculation about Gov. Chris Sununu’s 2024 plans, which is why it raised a few eyebrows on Friday when the New Hampshire Republican said during a radio interview, “I don’t think I’m going to run again.”
* Speaking of GOP governors, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, unable to run again due to term limits, announced in an Indianapolis Star op-ed last week that he won’t be a U.S. Senate candidate next year.
* The exact date for some of the early presidential nominating contests next year has not been set, but South Carolina Republicans have settled on their place in the calendar: The state’s primary is now scheduled for Feb. 24.
* And in Montana, where Tim Sheehy is a top GOP recruit for next year’s U.S. Senate race, The Daily Beast reports that the Republican is facing a difficult lawsuit stemming from a small plane crash in Florida in 2019.