Mediaboss Marketing

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Be it to get a ride to work, or to indulge our food cravings, technology seems to be propelling most aspects of our lives today, and so, it shouldnt come as a surprise that this kind of disruption is hitting the beauty and wellness industries too. Consider Shedul, a booking and scheduling platform for salons, spas, and other wellness businesses, the brainchild of entrepreneurs William Zeqiri and Nick Miller. We did some research and found out that the majority of businesses in the beauty industry operate offline, without any software at all. 52% of salons in the US still manage their bookings with pen and paper, says cofounder and CEO Zeqiri.

Looking to change that, in 2015, the duo launched Shedul, which Zeqiri declares to be the worlds first subscription-free platform. The cloud-based software is accessible via an internet connection on any device, with most users found to be accessing the platform on their mobiles. Besides taking the hassle out of operations management for salons by automating key processes such as appointment bookings, customer records, inventory, financial reporting and other tasks, this platform is also addressing a key challenge for the industry- that of resource utilization. The main pain point is the inefficient utilization of appointment schedules, which is causing low occupancy rates for businesses and loss of revenue, says co-founder and COO Miller. Our technology is helping businesses optimize their schedule with real-time online availability, and in some cases, it has increased user revenue more than 30%.

Sheduls software enables salons, spas, and other wellness businesses schedule appointments, reduce no-shows with the help of automated reminders, and undertake point-of-sale activities among other tasks. The entrepreneur says given the status of occupancy rates in the beauty and wellness industry, and with industry players losing billions of dollars [due to occupancy issues], Sheduls technology helps connect small businesses directly to demand. However, the biggest credit for Sheduls growth trajectory (the portal claims over 40,000 merchant sign-ups in more than 120 countries, in under two years) should go to its free-to-use model. Our monetization strategy is to charge a small commission fee per booking on our soon-to-be-launched consumer marketplace, and keeping the main SaaS [Software as a Service] tool free, says Zeqiri, explaining the startups aggressive user acquisition strategy while keeping an eye on revenue.

Related: UAE Startup Joi Wants To Be The Go-To Portal For All Things Gifts

Its also this growth (which the founders consider almost entirely organic through word-of-mouth) that helped the startup close a US$6 million round of Series A financing, backed by both MENA and Silicon Valley investors in June 2017. Led by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and backed by Dubais BECO Capital and San Francisco-based Lumia Capital (a VC firm that backs the Middle East ride-hailing app Careem, among many other startups), the new round of funding also follows an earlier seed round (also led by MEVP) in October 2016. Without going into the details, the entrepreneurs say they plan to use the funds to expand their product development and engineering teams to support the roll out of some new features of their platform.

Shedul's scheduling platform. Image credit: Shedul.

The founders feeling of triumph is apparent as Zeqiri notes that they had aimed for the best VCs in the region, and so managing to seal a deal with them was definitely music to their ears. Its critical to align on the big picture or vision with VCs, before getting into the detailed analysis [of the deal]. Being a global company, we got lots of interest from international VCs, and are proud to have San Francisco-based Lumia Capital joining the round, he says. The investors too are upbeat about the startup and its product, with MEVPs managing partner Walid Mansour noting in a statement that Shedul is a truly global success story, [as] the growth they achieved in two years is remarkable. Chris Rogers, partner at Lumia Capital noted that Shedul has made best-in-class software accessible to the massive beauty industry, which still largely operates offline.

While the company notes that millions of bookings are made through the platform each month growing at an average rate of 35% month-on-month, its significant (and also intriguing) to note that almost half of this Dubai-based startups users are in the US (40%), followed by the UK (15%), Australia (11%), and Canada (7%). The MENA market, where they have about 2,000 salons and spas using their platform till date, is hence still a growing geography for the tech startup and represents about 5% of their total user base (with more than half in the UAE). We are a global business with most users internationally, and we just happen to start the business in Dubai Our story is that we are serving the globe out of Dubai, rather than targeting the local market, explains Zeqiri.

The entrepreneurs lofty ambitions for their scheduling platform is to process over $1.5 billion worth of appointment bookings by the end of 2017, and they believe they are on track to achieve this. Word-of-mouth factor is strong, our users are the best ambassadors spreading the word within their own community, says Miller. We have a solid 5/5 user rating on Capterra.com [a platform that helps businesses find the right software for their operational needs], and believe that if users require training on how to use our system, we have not done a good job building it. In line with this belief, the team finds that merchants adopting Shedul often rave about its easy setup and intuitive interface, as well as its personable customer support.

Related: From Concept To Launch: The Origin Story Of My Middle East Startup

The founders are also grateful for the vocal backing they get from their partners, which, they believe, has a key role to play in their software becoming a familiar name in the global beauty and wellness industry. Moreover, from not even being in the reckoning just over a year ago, Shedul has also managed to bag top slots in Capterras independent review reports for 2017s Top 20 Salon Management software under the categories of Most Popular, Most User-Friendly and Most Affordable software. With netizens the world over more confident than ever to book and pay for local services online, SaaS products are in fact already a norm when it comes to food delivery, transportation, and other basic services, and the entrepreneur duo behind Shedul are confident that the beauty and wellness space is also making the transition at a positive pace. Interestingly, in a bid to prevent users from leaving its apps, tech titan Google too launched Reserve with Google in July 2017- a feature (in the US) that lets users book health and wellness appointments directly from its Search or Maps apps via a book button. Such enormous competition notwithstanding, Shedul has its eyes set to help businesses in the salon and spa industry thrive- and armed as it is with a business model tailored to take advantage of the SaaS boom, as well as a passionate and ambitious team, the company seems to be well on its way to realizing its goals.

INVESTOR VIEWPOINT Amir Farha, co-founder and Managing Partner, BECO Capital

Why did BECO Capital decide to get on board as investors- what impressed you about Shedul? The management team at Shedul is extraordinary. They are second-time entrepreneurs who have a long working relationship, and have clearly demonstrated superior execution capabilities. Given the relatively short life of the company, the product they have built is outstanding, relative to others in the market with rave reviews from a sticky customer base. Furthermore, we love their vision and ambition. Will and Nick are looking to build something truly transformational that will disrupt the spa industry globally. We are honored to be part of their journey and will do our best to help them succeed.

Do you see Shedul evolving as a profitable business with their free-software model? Financially, what excites BECO Capital in the deal? Every business needs to find a revenue stream that scales, and Shedul has plans to do that. At the moment, their focus is purely on product, experience and ensuring their customers are happy. Once they have achieved scale and high retention, they will be able to monetize through various business models. They already process tens of millions of dollars in bookings per month, and they are looking to launch a marketplace, which should capture some of those dollars. If they can execute on that plan, the potential revenue scale is enormous, not-tomention, the ancillary revenues that can exist in the future.

'TREP TALK William Zeqiri, co-founder and CEO, Shedul

William Zeqiri,co-founder and CEO, Shedul. Source: Shedul

Based on your current fundraising experience, what would be your top three tips for the regions startups to pitch and clinch funding for their ventures? [First], solve a real-world problem with an innovative product. [Second], demonstrate traction and growth with users. [Third], articulate a clear monetization strategy. Before approaching any investors it is important to build and operate a working product that has real customers using it, to show a trend of at least three months of strong growth and traction, and to be meticulous with your unit economics, P&L reporting, and burn rate.

More:
Conquering The Globe: Shedul Co-Founders William Zeqiri and Nick Miller - Entrepreneur

Alberto B. Hernandez, who came to the United States illegally from Toluca, Mexico, has been living the American dream in Louisiana for more than a decade. A taxpaying father of six who owns a successful bricklaying business, he recently built a new house for his family in Prairieville, a community he has called home for several years.

Federal authorities picked Hernandezup years ago and had the opportunity to prosecute and deport him many times. But they gave him a pass, instead requiring he stay out of trouble and renew his work permit on an annual basis.

He held up his end of the bargain, working long hours, including weekends and birthdays, to give his family the sort of prosperity that had eluded him south of the border.

But on a sweltering afternoon last month, Hernandez's world was upended when he reported to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown New Orleans for what he expected to be a routine appointment. Instead of renewing his permit, immigration officials issued Hernandez an ultimatum: sign papers agreeing to leave the country by Oct. 10 or be arrested on the spot.

In a surreal instant, he went from planning his daughter's 15th birthday partyto fearing imminent separation from his family.

"It was a devastating day," Hernandez recalled in an interview. "When we arrived home, I told my kids what had happened. They started to cry."

Hernandez's plight highlights the growing uncertainty that people who came to the U.S. illegallyface under President Donald Trump's administration, which has dramatically stepped up deportation efforts, particularly in cases that do not involve criminal charges.

Immigrants like Hernandez, who essentially had been left alone for years to work and raise their families, are now living in constant worry.

Under Trump, ICE agents have been unshackledfrom the guidelines of former President Barack Obama's administration, which called for them to focus their resources on the most violent of the 11 million people living in the country without permission.

The result has been an increase in immigration-related arrests across the country, and a staggering jump in this region. Deportations also have skyrocketed in Louisiana and the four other states covered by ICE's New Orleans field office:Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In those states, the agency deported 6,665 undocumented immigrants through the first three-quarters of the current fiscal year more than the total of the previous three years combined. Immigration-related arrests and detainer requests at local jails have jumped by a similar margin, according to statistics released to The Advocate by federal immigration officials.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, for instance, ICE haslodged 40 detainers on inmates booked into the jail on counts unrelated to immigration in 2017 up from 27 all of last year, according to the Sheriff's Office.

An ICE detainer is a request that jail officials hold someone due for release an additional 48 hours to give ICE more time to decide whether to take that person into federal custody so they can be deported.

While deportations are also on the rise nationally, the increases are not nearly as pronounced elsewhere as in this region. The reasons for the disparity are unclear.

A proposed law to ban so-called sanctuary cities in Louisiana, branded as racially discrimin

"Certainly the evidence is that they're locking people up," said Susan Long, the co-director and co-founder of TRAC Immigration, a nonprofit group that documents immigration cases in the U.S.

Trump, who made immigration a central focus of his campaign and vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border, issued anexecutive orderwithin days of taking office that drastically expanded whom the government deems a priority for deportation, while also threatening to strip federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" that don't cooperate with ICE.

The Department of Homeland Security later issued a memorandum explaining that no one in the country illegally is exempt from enforcement.

"All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States," the memo stated.

One of the most significant shifts has been the spike in immigration arrests of people not facing criminal charges. Through the first 100 days of the Trump administration, fewer than half of the approximately 1,400 arrests made by agents assigned to ICE's New Orleans field office involved criminal charges.

"There is no prioritization," said Michael W. Gahagan, a New Orleans immigration attorney. "Everybody is a priority. It's, 'If we get you, we get you.' "

Gahagan and his counterparts across the state said they've seen a flood of deportation cases, swelling court dockets that are being managed by additional judges who recently have been brought on in New Orleans and Jena to handle the glut of new immigration proceedings.

Paul "Woody" Scott, a Baton Rouge attorney who represents Hernandez, described the current atmosphere as "a free-for-all."

"Under Obama, it was all about priorities," Scott said. "They prioritized people who had criminal records or were recent arrivals. Now it's whoever they can get their hands on."

Last month, ICE arrested 83 people in New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville as part of a nationwide crackdown called "Operation Border Guardian/Border Resolve," which the agency said targeted immigrants "who entered the country as unaccompanied alien children and family units." The authorities described 64 of those arrested as "non-criminal" and acknowledged that many of them were picked up while agents were searching for other targets.

Thomas Homan, the acting ICE director, warned "anyone considering making the dangerous and unlawful journey to the United States" to reconsider. "Ultimately, if you have no basis to remain the United States, you will be identified, apprehended and returned to your home country," he said in a statement.

Trump's approach has been welcomed by conservative lawmakers in Louisiana, who have long called for a federal government crackdown. The new guidelines have boosted morale among federal immigration agents, whose union issued a statement saying the changes would help "save thousands of lives and billions of dollars" while making the country safer.

But the rapidly shifting landscape has sent a shudder of fear through local Hispanic communities in places like Kenner, which has the highest percentage of Latino residents of any local community and where local authorities work closely with federal immigration officials.

CINCINNATI (AP) A Mexican mother of four U.S.-born children living in southwest Ohio has b

Some advocates say that cooperation has had a chilling effect when it comes to the reporting of crimes against immigrants. In the New Orleans metro area, there were some 30,000 immigrants who came here illegally as of 2014,according to an estimatereleased earlier this year by the Pew Research Center.

"We're seeing people who were themselves victims of crimes or were in a traffic accident, maybe rear-ended, and then arrested by Kenner police and handed over to ICE," said Chloe Sigal, an organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers. "Some people don't even want to go out and buy groceries. People are afraid to leave their children at the bus stop."

Thomas Byrd, an ICE spokesman, said in an email that "there are mechanisms in place to protect victims and witnesses of crimes."

"I'm not aware of victims of traffic accidents being arrested and removed by ICE," he said.

The Kenner Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The statistics provided by ICE are not broken down by city or even by state, so it's unclear where the increases have been most pronounced. Byrd said he could provide numbers only for the entire New Orleans field office, which covers five states.

The numbers likely would be even higher in New Orleans if it weren't for the refusal of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office to honor immigration detainers lodged by ICE, except in cases involving those facing serious felony charges. The New Orleans Police Department, under the terms of a federal consent decree, also has limited its cooperation with immigration officials; it specifically forbids officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, victims and witnesses.

Those policies together have prompted critics to label New Orleans a "sanctuary city," a label Mayor Mitch Landrieu has vigorously disputed.

ICE's current approach marks a drastic change from the guidelines the agency followed during the Obama administration, which initially took an aggressive stance toward deportations but later, in an about-face, largely called for ICE to leave alone the millions of immigrants who lack legal permission to live in the U.S. but have nevertheless found work here and have not committed any crimes.

Take Ramon, for example, an immigrant living in Jefferson Parish who came to the United States illegally 13 years ago to earn money for his family.

A Honduran national who asked that his last name not be printed, Ramon, who claims he has no criminal history, lives a reclusive life in Metairie when he's not painting houses. He doesn't go out drinking or partying. Paying for the education of his two sons, who are both in college in Honduras, is his sole focus.

Three years ago, during the Obama administration, ICE detained Ramon three times in just two months. He was scared, he said, but immigration officials ran his fingerprints and let him go. He was not a priority for deportation in those days and felt relatively safe. But that's changed in recent months. Three of his friends were deported recently, he said, though he's unsure whether they committed a crime or were expelled solely because they were here illegally.

"These days, I'd say it's a toss-up," he said. "You wake up with that fear every day. Only God can protect you from that."

Ramon and several other immigrants said they feel comfortable in Metairie, but they are increasingly wary in Kenner, where they perceive immigration enforcement to be more aggressive at the local level.

But it's not just Kenner that has seen an influx of immigration-related arrests. Sigal, the Congress of Day Laborers organizer, said her organization has heard reports of ICE agents staking out the Ideal market on Hessmer Avenue in Metairie, which is frequented by Latino shoppers.

"They don't have free rein to profile people and stalk them without probable cause, and unfortunately, that's what we're seeing," Sigal said. "They're acting without any regard for children's welfare or humanitarian factors."

Hernandez, the Prairieville bricklayer, has six children, two of whom suffer from severe medical conditions. And though he came to America illegally, he has paid federal income tax since 2005 and employed up to 10 people at Hernandez Brick Layer LLC.

Those were among the factors that prompted federal prosecutors and immigration officials to allow him to remain after he was arrested in 2014.

At that time, someone had told local authorities that"a previously deported alien from Mexico was working as a self-employed bricklayer and living" in Prairieville, according to court records. Hernandez suspects a jealous neighbor implicated him.

Hernandez was granted a "stay of removal" and placed under an order of supervision that allowed him to obtain a work permit and a driver's license but required him to check in with immigration officials once a year.

Last month, he reported to the ICE office on Poydras Street in New Orleans expecting to renew his permit. "It was more like a formality, really," he recalled. "But when I got there, they told me that I had to sign that paper or theyd detain me right there."

Hernandez asked to speak to his lawyer, a request that was denied. Hernandez reluctantly complied, agreeing to leave the U.S. voluntarily by Oct. 10 or be forcefully removed.

In 1997, when he left his hometown in Mexico to find a better life, Toluca was relatively quiet. But that's changed in the time he's been in the United States. Now that community, about 40 miles west of Mexico City, is beset by violence, robberies and kidnappings, Hernandez said. He had been thinking about returning to Mexico for his retirement, but not to Toluca.

Hernandez said he can't understand the hostility many Americans feel toward immigrants like him.

"We come here to live in peace and work," he said. "We are not the criminals as many are depicting us. We're just here working and helping this country. That's all."

Read the original post:
La. illegal immigrants face skyrocketing deportations, rising uncertainty, under Trump administration - The Advocate

WASHINGTON Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) last week pressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement for answers concerning Nemias Garcia-Velasco, an illegal immigrant who was deported multiple times before being accused of killing one person and injuring another earlier this summer while driving under the influence in Nebraska.

Garcia-Velasco, whose blood alcohol content was later recorded at more than three times the legal limit, was traveling over 100 mph on Interstate 80 on July 5 when he lost control of his van. A man was killed and a 16-year-old boy injured in the afternoon fiery crash near the Interstate 680 split in Omaha, one of Nebraskas busiest junctures. The Douglas County Attorneys Office has charged Garcia-Velasco, a Mexico native, with motor vehicle homicide. Court filings show that Garcia-Velasco had been deported seven times -- five times through voluntary return in 2005 and twice more in 2009 and 2011.

Sasse, in an Aug. 3 letter to ICE officials, also drew attention to Eswin Mejia, an illegal immigrant who was allegedly street racing in a pickup truck while intoxicated in January 2016 when he rammed into the back of 21-year-old Sarah Roots vehicle in Omaha. Root, who had graduated from Bellevue University earlier that day, died at the hospital after suffering a severed spinal cord and fractured skull. According to Sasse, Omaha Police requested that the ICE officials apprehend Mejia, who had prior offenses including a missed court date. ICE did not follow through on the request, and Mejia has since fled. Because he remains at large, Sasse said that the Root family has been deprived of justice.

We cannot let these tragedies become the new normal, Sasse said in a statement. The revolving door for dangerous illegal aliens needs to stop. ICE has to step up, answer Nebraskans questions, and fix this broken enforcement system.

Sasse requested details from ICE about Garcia-Velascos various return trips to Mexico, his criminal past, federal communications with him and any information on attempts to apprehend the individual. The Nebraska lawmaker also asked for details about the priority ICE gave Garcia-Velasco due to his criminal history.

Lawmakers around the country have pointed to a multitude of stories similar to the cases of Garcia-Velasco and Mejia, in which illegal activity by a person in the country illegally has resulted in the death of an American citizen. In July, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) welcomed the launch of Advocates for Victims of Alien Crime, an advocacy group whose family members have died in incidents involving illegal immigrants.

Immigration groups and advocates, while recognizing the tragedy of the events, have pointed to statistics that show legal and illegal immigrants arent any more likely to commit these crimes than the general U.S. population. Statistics from the Cato Institute earlier this year revealed that both documented and undocumented immigrants are incarcerated at rates lower than native citizens.

More here:
Sasse Presses ICE for Answers on Illegal Immigrant Charged in Deadly Wreck - PJ Media

Vice President Mike Pence has so far avoided being dragged into the muck of the Russia probes that have engulfed President Donald Trump, his top aides and his family members. Its no accident.

Unlike his boss, Pences Twitter feed is silent about a Russia hoax and witch hunts. Hes denied having knowledge of critical discrepancies in Michael Flynns story gaps that have landed the former national security adviser in prosecutors crosshairs. And hes taken pains to note he wasnt even part of the Trump ticket at a controversial June 2016 meeting where a Kremlin-linked lawyer offered dirt on Hillary Clinton in a meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort.

Story Continued Below

The Vice President's office has also instituted strict rules against speaking to the press, and any staffers have to clear it with Pences new chief of staff, Nick Ayers, his communications director or press secretary before talking to reporters. And unlike in the West Wing, where staffers have taken to slinging arrows and airing unattributed grievances through the media, the rules have held firm in Pence's orbit, where infighting is rare.

While Pence has become known for his aw-shucks persona, the former Indiana governor and longtime congressman is also a cunning politician who has developed a playbook for staying clean over his decades in the spotlight.

Ryan Streeter, who served as Pences deputy chief of staff when he was governor, said Pence has a way of creating barriers between himself and wrongdoing, or even the appearance of wrongdoing.

Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Streeter said Pence used to tell staffers: If theres a line you dont want to cross, you dont even walk up to it you stop three feet in front of it.

He possesses the judgment to stay away from things that can create problems later, Streeter said about Pences time as governor, which included his controversial flip on a religious freedom bill but was generally scandal-free.

That doesnt mean, however, that Pence has stayed squeaky clean in the White House or that he will be able to stay out of the Russia scandal as the probes intensify. At the very least, he will be a target for investigators eager to question key players in Trumps orbit.

Hes in the middle of something, even though he may not be in the middle of it, said Stanley Brand, a white-collar defense lawyer who represented George Stephanopolous during the special counsel investigations into President Bill Clintons Whitewater land deals.

Politically, Pences credibility on the Russia probe has taken some hits especially when his answers on Russia have been contradicted by facts that later emerged. Where hes gotten himself in trouble is making statements defending Trump, then having other facts come out, said William Jeffress, a white-collar attorney who represented Vice President Dick Cheneys chief of staff, I. Lewis Scooter Libby, during the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation.

The contradictions have happened more than once. Pence said during the transition, for example, that Flynn had not discussed sanctions during calls with the Russian ambassador. That was later revealed to be untrue, and Pence pleaded ignorance.

Pence also defended Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey by pointing to the recommendations made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein that were widely circulated by the White House. But Trump soon announced he would have fired Comey regardless of the recommendation, again landing Pence in an awkward spot.

And despite Pences attempts to steer clear of Russia-related landmines in the White House, his mere proximity to Trump and presence in the West Wing makes him of keen interest to investigators and its unknown what the questioning could uncover.

All the senior staff are potential grand jury witnesses, said Adam Goldberg, a former Clinton White House special associate counsel.

Pence, for example, can eventually expect to face a range of questions from special counsel Robert Mueller and others investigating the Russia probe over conversations he had during the transition period with Flynn, as well as Trumps firing of Comey.

On the Flynn front, there is a record showing Pence got a heads up about some of the retired lieutenant general's controversies through his role leading the Trump post-election transition, even though he previously claimed he wasnt aware of the activities.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent Pence a letter on Nov. 18 raising alarm about Flynns conflicts of interest, namely his work lobbying on behalf of the Turkey government and his December 2015 paid trip to Moscow. The transition team that Pence led acknowledged the letter 10 days later.

But in early March, Pence told Fox News that he was just learning of Flynns lobbying activities. Well, let me say, hearing that story today was the first Id heard of it, he said.

Pence being caught unaware also doesnt square with a Feb. 19 interview then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus gave to NBC where he was asked about Flynns firing and the two-plus week gap between the White House knowing about the national security advisers remarks to Pence concerning sanctions and his firing.

The vice president is in the loop on everything, Priebus replied.

Vice President Mike Pence poses for a photo with his family after the unveiling of his official state portrait on Aug. 11 in Indianapolis. | AP Photo/Darron Cummings

With Comey, Pence can expect to face questions from federal and congressional investigators about what he was told by the president both before and after Trump pulled the FBI director aside in the Oval Office after a Feb. 14 meeting that had included the vice president, Priebus, Sessions and Kushner. Hes also likely to be questioned in the obstruction of justice investigation centering on Comeys firing, given that his statement about the justification clashed with Trumps.

Theres another reason Pence may be called to answer questions. In multiple interviews, hes dismissed any contact between the Trump campaign and Russian election meddlers.

Of course not, Pence said in a mid-January interview with CBS just days before the inauguration. And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.

All the contact by the Trump campaign and associates were with the American people, he told Fox News Sunday that same day.

Recognizing the legal stakes ahead, Pence has hired a prominent lawyer, Richard Cullen, a former Virginia attorney general and U.S. attorney under President George H.W. Bush. But still unclear is how the vice president will pay for the help.

Pence is hardly wealthy. As vice president, hes making $230,700 a year, which comes on top of his May 2017 financial disclosure that show he was making $109,749 a year as Indiana governor, along with three state pensions for retirement. His wife had no income and his own bank account had between $1,001 and $15,000. Pence also had at least $105,000 in student loan debt for his childrens education.

Jarrod Agen, who recently got a promotion from communications director to deputy chief of staff, said Pence had ruled out using taxpayer funds or money raised through his political action committee to pay for his lawyer.

Legal experts say they dont think Pences legal bills have gotten too big at this early stage of the process. To start, Pence likely has provided documents to his lawyer but hasnt spent much time preparing to give testimony or answer questions under oath. You can get to $10,000 real quick and even $50,000. But I dont see Pence as incurring some huge legal bill, Jeffress said.

Pence has made one significant move that could signal an awareness of the perilous political path ahead. He recently replaced his longtime aide and chief of staff Josh Pitcock with Ayers, a 34-year-old Republican operative from Georgia who was a top Pence aide during the 2016 campaign.

The move seemed to show that, in Trumps Washington, theres more of a premium on the skills of a political knife-fighter than a policy wonk. Trumps White House, after all, does remain under a state of siege over the Russia probe, and the talk that the president could fire Mueller prompted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to recently warn that such a move could be the beginning of the end of the Trump administration.

Pence is not, however, in an entirely unprecedented position.

Past vice presidents from Gerald Ford to George H.W. Bush and Al Gore can attest to the challenge of maintaining ones personal political fortune and limiting legal liability while also demonstrating loyalty to a president caught in serious scandal.

Robert Bennett, a white-collar attorney who represented President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones cases, said Pence appears to be doing a fine job of navigating the situation so far.

He appears to be out of the news, so somebody is doing something right, Bennett said. Theres an old expression: Mushrooms dont get hit by lightningthats because they grow underground.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

Read more:
Mike Pence and the art of staying clean - Politico

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time."

It's hard to imagine a less presidential statement in a time in which the country looks to its elected leader to stand up against intolerance and hatred.

Picking a "worst" from Donald Trump's statement -- delivered from his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club -- isn't easy. But, the emphasis of "on many sides" -- Trump repeated that phrase twice -- is, I think, the low ebb.

Both sides don't scream racist and anti-Semitic things at people with whom they disagree. They don't base a belief system on the superiority of one race over others. They don't get into fistfights with people who don't see things their way. They don't create chaos and leave a trail of injured behind them.

Arguing that "both sides do it" deeply misunderstands the hate and intolerance at the core of this "Unite the Right" rally. These people are bigots. They are hate-filled. This is not just a protest where things, unfortunately, got violent. Violence sits at the heart of their warped belief system.

Trying to fit these hate-mongers into the political/ideological spectrum -- which appears to be what Trump is doing -- speaks to his failure to grasp what's at play here. This is not a "conservatives say this, liberals say that" sort of situation. We all should stand against this sort of violent intolerance and work to eradicate it from our society -- whether Democrat, Republican, Independent or not political in the least.

What Trump failed to do is what he has always promised to do: Speak blunt truths. The people gathered in Charlottesville this weekend are white supremacists, driven by hate and intolerance. Period. There is no "other side" doing similar things here.

What Trump is doing -- wittingly or unwittingly -- is giving cover to the sort of beliefs (and I use that word lightly) on display in Charlottesville today.

Chalking it all up to a violent political rhetoric that occurs on both sides and has been around for a very long time contextualizes and normalizes the behavior of people who should not be normalized. It is not everyday political rhetoric to scream epithets at people who don't look like you or worship like you. Trump's right that this sort of behavior has existed on American society's fringes for a long time -- but what we as a nation, led by our presidents, have always done is call it out for what it is: radical racism that has no place in our world.

So, that's the big one. But there are other things in Trump's statement that are also worth calling out -- most notably "not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama."

What Trump is doing here is pre-emptively absolving himself of blame for creating a political climate in the country in which people like these "Unite the Right" demonstrators feel emboldened enough to rally in public. Not my fault, Trump is saying. There were hate groups and hate speech under Obama too!

With someone dead and more than two dozen people injured, this is, of course, not the time for assigning blame. Or for making political calculations. This is a time to say: We stand together against what we saw in Charlottesville today. Trump didn't do that. Not even close.

Then, last but not least, is what Trump said a few paragraphs after his "on many sides" comment. Here it is:

"Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record -- just absolute record employment. We have unemployment, the lowest it's been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country. Foxconn and car companies, and so many others, they're coming back to our country. We're renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker. We have so many incredible things happening in our country. So when I watch Charlottesville, to me it's very, very sad."

Really? A pivot to an I-am-not-gettng-enough-credit-for-all-the-good-I-am-doing-in-the-country line? With scenes of hatred splashed across TV screens With someone dead?

This speech is not the time to tout your accomplishments. I mean "we're renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country"? Who thought that was a good thing to say in the same speech in which Trump, theoretically, was trying to reassure people that what we all saw in Charlottesville is not, fundamentally, who we are?

That no one -- starting and ending with the President -- raised a red flag about tacking on a laundry list of accomplishments to a speech that should have simply condemned the behavior in Charlottesville and called to our better angels, is staggering, even for this White House.

There are moments where we as a country look to our president to exemplify the best in us. They don't happen every day. Sometimes they don't happen every year. But, when they do happen, we need the person we elected to lead us to, you know, lead us.

Trump did the opposite today.

More here:
Donald Trump's incredibly unpresidential statement on Charlottesville - CNN