Did Mike Pence engage in Nepotism to give his Nephew a Cushy Political Job?

Mike Pence and Donald Trump

On Friday February 23rd, 2018 CNBC's Christina Wilkie reported that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had since September 2017 been paying tens of thousands of dollars in rent for office space in Trump Towers in New York. In addition several thousand dollars has been being paid to John Pence the nephew  of Vice President and former Indiana Governor Mike Pence. The money from the RNC is being used to pay for office space for use for President Trump's reelection campaign. Of which John Pence is the campaign's deputy executive director. 

Christian Willkie reports:

Campaign finance experts who spoke to CNBC said this type of spending by a party committee on behalf of a campaign is highly unusual but legal, and it appears the RNC disclosed it correctly.

"This is permissible and it's being reported properly, but why they are doing it is a mystery," said Brendan Fischer, senior counsel for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. "One would think the RNC could be spending their money more effectively right now on the 2018 campaign, rather than spending it to pay Trump's rent."

So far, the party has spent more than $290,000 to cover the Trump campaign's expenses since September, the first month it paid the Trump Tower rent or Pence's salary. Before then, both expenses had been paid directly by the Trump campaign.

John Pence had begun receiving a paycheck from the RNC on Sept. 15, 2017.

Pence's salary was $12,000 a month at the Trump campaign, and the RNC appears to be paying him the same or nearly the same amount, judging from the state and federal payroll taxes withheld.

Ms. Wilkie's article does go onto to question the wisdom of the RNC spending so much money on the next presidential race in 2020 rather than devoting resources to this years midterm races. We recommend that everyone out in cyberspace reads her article here. But our concern is mostly on why is John Pence so valuable to be paid a $12,000 a month salary? The only reason he seems to have been hired is because he is related to Milquetoast Mike Pence. 

John Pence

Ballotpedia gives the following background information on John Pence here:

John Pence graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2011. Attended Indiana University School of Law graduated in 2015. Worked as an extern at the U.S. Justice Department on Criminal and Civil Matters. Worked as an associate at Ice Miller in Indiana from 2015 to 2016. 

At only 28 years of age John Pence is a tad young and inexperienced to be given such a high level position on a presidential campaign.

We did find one other item of interest regarding John Pence. In a Washington Post article from February 7th, 2018 Emily Heil did report that John Pence is currently dating Giovanna Coia who is a cousin of Kellyanne Conway a senior advisor and spokesman spokeswoman for President Donald Trump. 

Ms. Coia might actually be a good match for John Pence seeing as they are both trading on their family connections to enhance their own standing. Not only does the swamp need to be drained in Washington, D.C. It looks like the political classes gene pools could use a filter.

John Pence and Giovanna Coia

Here is a money saving suggestion for the RNC from Bill Kristol:

Why not cut out the middle man? Send your RNC contributions directly to the Trump organization and family, or the Pence family.https://t.co/1vQOwLvyRX

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 23, 2018