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Keith Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison for a violent robbery he claimed he didnt commit. Even his prosecutor came to agree, but it took a new governor to clear his name.

For years, Mike Pence refused to pardon an innocent man. But one month after he left office as Indianas governor, his successor Eric Holcomb moved to clear Keith Coopers name.

Keith Cooper of Elkhart, Indiana, has maintained his innocence since he was charged with robbery and attempted murder in 1997. Tried and convicted in a single day, Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison for robbery resulting in serious injury. But while Cooper was behind bars, evidence of his innocence grew. The witnesses who testified against him recanted their statements. A DNA test implicated a different man. By 2014, Indianas parole board and the prosecutor who put Cooper away unanimously recommended Pence to issue a pardon. For years, Pence refused. It took Pences successor exactly one month to pardon him.

It was a dream finally come true, Cooper told The Daily Beast. When his family learned of the pardon, they were overcome with tears, he said. They were just as overwhelmed as I was. We were excited because this was my biggest dream. They stood by me all this time.

After years of fighting to clear Coopers name, news of the sudden pardon came as a surprise, even to his legal team.

I was not given any kind of warning so I'm flying back to Chicago now, Coopers lawyer Elliot Slosar told The Daily Beast from an airport on Thursday afternoon. Holcomb had announced Coopers pardon just hours before.

After careful and thoughtful consideration and review, something I've thought about every day over the last month, just earlier today I issued a pardon to Mr. Keith Cooper for his past and I believe wrongful armed robbery felony [conviction], Holcomb told press of the Thursday pardon. I am very much at peace pardoning him for the one he claims innocence on He has from the very outset and I believe he is innocent of that crime.

Cooper has claimed innocence since the morning of Jan. 2, 1997. Cooper, then 29, had been out buying eggs, bacon, and cereal for his wife and three children. But while he carried home his groceries, four police cars pulled up alongside him. They had received reports of a tall, thin black man snatching a purse in the area. Coopertall, thin, and blackwas put into a squad car at gunpoint.

Later, when Cooper was allowed to make contact with his wife, he told her not spend their money on bail. He was innocent, and expected to prove so quickly. In a sense, Cooper was right: Within a month, he was found not guilty of the purse theft. But while in jail, Cooper caught the attention of a police detective investigating a shooting from the previous year in Coopers apartment complex. Before he could be released from jail, he was charged with armed robbery and attempted murder.

With Cooper facing new, graver charges, his mother put up her house as collateral for his bond. He was tried and convicted in a single day, after witnesses claimed to recognize him as the man who broke into their home, demanded money, and shot a teenager in the hip. His jail cellmate testified against him, claiming Cooper had divulged information on the robbery, including information about a black hat that was found on the crime scene. The hat was tested for DNA evidence, and a lab report obtained by the Indianapolis Star concluded that Cooper can be eliminated as a possible contributor, but his lawyer made an agreement that effectively removed the DNA results as evidence. Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Struggling for money, Coopers family moved out of the state, sometimes living in shelters. His three young children grew up out of sight. But a shred of hope remained in his appeals effort.

In 2002, an attorney ordered a second DNA test and it made clear that Cooper could not have worn the hat found on the crime scene. A third DNA test in 2004 tied the hat to Johlanis Ervin, who looked somewhat like Cooper and who was already incarcerated for a murder.

The conviction unraveled further from there.

The witnesses who testified against Cooper began recanting their statements. His cellmate wrote multiple affidavits claiming that police had coerced him into fabricating a statement against Cooper. The family of the teenager shot during the armed robbery backtracked on their testimony, claiming police had refused to show them a live lineup of suspects, and pressured them into identifying Cooper as the robber, even when they had doubts.

In 2005, the state offered him a deal: They would reduce Coopers sentence to the time he had already served and release him without overturning his conviction. The agreement let Cooper out of prison in April 2006, but kept the felony charge on his record.

Finally free, Cooper could see his family again. But the felony record still weighed heavy on him, making it difficult for him to advance in his career and making him wary of future interactions with police.

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Slowly, with the support of the witnesses who had previously testified against him, and Slosar as his new attorney, Cooper began to build a case for a new trial. Meanwhile, state officials began building a case for a pardon. In 2014, the states parole board and Michael Christofeno, the prosecutor who tried Coopers case, unanimously recommended that Pence pardon Cooper, while over 100,000 people signed a petition calling for his pardon.

But Pence refused, saying Cooper would need to exhaust all his options in the court before Pence even considered granting a pardon.

A pardon based on innocence requires a governor to substitute his judgment for that of the judicial branch, Pences general counsel Mark Ahearn wrote in a letter denying the pardon.

Coopers legal team isnt sure why Pence withheld the pardon, particularly as Coopers case drew national scrutiny when Pence joined Donald Trumps presidential ticket. Slosar can only speculate, he said.

I cant speak for Gov. Pence and the decisions he made, Slosar said. What I can tell you is that I think Gov. Pence was trying to be savvy politically. He obviously at a point was angling to be the vice president. This pardon petition was squarely on his desk. It was something that was being covered extensively in the media. I imagine Gov. Pence knew that if he had granted this pardon while the election was going on that, politically, it wasnt a palatable thing for him and the base of people he was trying to appeal to while on the ticket with Donald Trump.

When Holcomb replaced Pence on Jan. 9, Slosar was gearing up for a long legal fight. Then, exactly one month into his term, Holcomb issued the surprise pardon.

We literally had no idea. Up until today I was actually preparing for a forthcoming evidentiary hearing we were going to have in the Elkhart Circuit Court, Slosar said on Thursday from the airport. Gov. Holcomb did in four weeks what Gov. Pence did not do in four years.

The pardon will allow Cooper to continue with the life disrupted 10 years ago.

[The pardon] opens the door for me for promotions on my job, Cooper said. I dont have to worry about if the police get behind me and run my plates. Now theyll see that Im a good guy, not a criminal.

Cooper is also eligible to sue for wrongful conviction, which his co-defendant successfully did in 2014, after having his conviction overturned in 2006. The co-defendant, Christopher Parish settled with the City of Elkhart for $4.9 million. Cooper has not moved to file a wrongful conviction suit, although he would now be within his rights to do so, Elliot said.

Days after his pardon, Cooper said he was grateful for the people who had maintained his innocence, even while he was behind bars.

It shows me unity: When people come together, our voices can be heard, he said. Thats something being done right.

Read more:
Innocent Man Finally Pardoned After Mike Pence Refused to Clear His Name - Daily Beast

Charles Krauthammer expressed befuddlement at why Michael Flynn would lie to Vice President Mike Pence about something as simple as speaking to the Russian ambassador, and he went on to say it presented President Trump with a dilemma:

What strikes me is how bizarre the whole story is. This is a cover up without a crime. The idea that one should be all aghast because the incoming national-security adviser spoke with the Russian ambassador and spoke about sanctions it seems to me to be perfectly reasonable the idea that it was illegal is preposterous. When I hear Nancy Pelosi get all upset about this and how in the grip of the Russians that shows us to be, this is an absurdity. But then you ask yourself, Why did he lie about it? Even internally in talking to the vice president. That shows a tremendous lapse of judgment and a sort of lack of trustworthiness. So the president is faced with a very difficult problem: If he fires him, then it puts into question the presidents own judgment, choosing him in the first place, having to fire him within three weeks. On the other hand, this is a guy who has been advising him, stuck with him, has appeared to have done the right thing talking with the Russian ambassador, and done a crazy thing and lying about it to Pence, and hes got to decide how its going to look. Either way, hes going to be hurt, but if he is going to get rid of him, he better have somebody of stature waiting in the wings.

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Michael Flynn Cover-Up 'Without a Crime' Follows Lying to Mike ... - National Review

Vice President Mike Pence is becoming a fixture on Capitol Hill.

He was back Monday evening meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and hanging out in the GOP cloakroom during votes just like he was still a congressman from Indiana.

After catching up with colleagues old and new, Pence was set to dine with the House Freedom Caucus. The 30-some-odd group of conservative Republicans is an influential caucus within the House Republican Conference that when voting en bloc can be the difference between passage and defeat on the House floor.

After dinner he's scheduled to be on hand in the Senate in case there is a new Treasury secretary to swear in, according to a Pence aide.

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Earlier in the evening he met with three Cuban-American Republican members of Florida's delegation: Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

The foursome talked national security, according to Diaz-Balart.

They most likely discussed Venezuela's new vice president, Tareck El Aissami, as shortly after their meeting Curbelo lauded the White House for sanctioning him, even though the Treasury Department has not formally announced the new sanctions.

The U.S. considers El Aissami a major international drug trafficker with ties to militant Middle Eastern groups.

"The rise to power of Tareck El Aissami has been an alarming development for anyone desiring a future of freedom, democracy, and dignity for the Venezuelan people," Curbelo stated.

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Mike Pence courts the House Freedom Caucus - Washington Examiner

Washington Post

Vice President Mike Pence ignores questions on Flynn Washington Post February 13, 2017 4:52 PM EST - During a visit to Capitol Hill on Feb. 13, Vice President Mike Pence ignored questions from the press on whether he still trusts national security advisor Michael Flynn. (The Washington Post) ...

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Vice President Mike Pence ignores questions on Flynn - Washington Post

Vice President Mike Pence and his team bring an entirely different ethos and set of values to the administration. | Getty

Pence and his team bring an entirely different ethos and set of values to the administration.

By Maggie Severns and Matthew Nussbaum

02/13/17 09:59 AM EST

Donald Trump never exactly fit the conservative mold a fact that has unnerved the GOPs true believers.

But as the Trump administration takes shape, Vice President Mike Pence has used his position atop the transition team and in the White House to install conservative allies throughout several agencies and at almost every level of government, giving the government a more orthodox cast.

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I think this whole administration is replete with social conservatives, said Peggy Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, a Christian activist group, who was at the White House with other activists last week celebrating Trumps Supreme Court pick.

Pence and his team bring an entirely different ethos and set of values to the administration. The vice presidents emphasis on limited government and his conservative social views are distinct from the America First-style populism of Trump or top advisers like Steve Bannon, creating a divide that could influence policymaking on health care, education and social issues.

Members of Pences tight-knit inner circle, such as longtime aide Josh Pitcock, now Pences chief of staff, hold key positions both in Pences office and across the Trump administration. Ex-Hill aide Marc Short is the White Houses liaison to Congress, and Pence political advisers Nick Ayers and Marty Obst are helping to run Trumps new nonprofit political arm, which was created to boost the presidents agenda, and brought on Pences nephew, John Pence, as deputy executive director.

Vice Present Pence surrounds himself with true conservatives, said a former staffer from his days leading the GOP House Conference. He did when he was on the Hill, and again in Indiana. That some of them are now in the administration bolsters the case that conservative principles will significantly undergird the presidents agenda to change Washington.

Former employees interviewed by POLITICO describe Pence as a manager who values humility, self-discipline and employees who follow marching orders. Pences top aides tend to be deeply conservative and, like the vice president, evangelical Christians. Short and Ayers are devout church-goers. Pence also encourages staff to balance work with a focus on family, which stems from his deep faith.

For Pences political foes, the influx of Hoosiers to the Trump administration is troubling for precisely that reason. His term as governor was marked by clashes spurred by his conservatism, said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody.

Critics said that his austerity measures led to severe understaffing at the states child protective services department, for instance. Pence also signed a controversial religious freedom bill that critics said allowed businesses to discriminate against gay people and which spurred blowback from companies that boycotted the state until he agreed to revise it.

Hes got some experience in government, unlike President Trump, Zody said. Some people look to him for that. But when youre being governed by an ideology that can cause problems.

All indications are that Pence will continue to push the conservative ideals that animate him. Last week, he helped circulate a religious freedom draft order in the White House that bore similarities to the law he had pushed in Indiana according to Family Research Council CEO Tony Perkins. Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner successfully pushed back on the effort to get the order signed.

And he is stocking HHS with allies who take a similar view of the Affordable Care Act. As a lawmaker, Pence opposed its passage, though he used it to expand Medicaid as governor and later, he railed against the law on the 2016 campaign trail.

Now, he and his inner circle are poised to play key parts in the fight for repeal. They include Indianas former Medicaid consultant, Seema Verma, now the presidents nominee to lead the agency that oversees Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid within Health and Human Services. Verma pushed a conservative-friendly Medicaid expansion in Indiana, and if confirmed, would oversee implementation of an Obamacare replacement plan.

Tom Price, the presidents HHS secretary, is a Pence ally from the Hill.

Other Pence proteges include Brian Neale, who worked on health care in Indiana and is currently the agencys point person on Medicaid, as well as Matt Lloyd, former Pence deputy chief of staff from the governors mansion, now the agencys spokesman.

The heavy Hoosier presence in the administration is no coincidence: Since Pence assumed control of the transition from Gov. Chris Christie in November, his close advisers have tapped Hoosiers and aides to Indiana members of Congress to fill some of 4,000 political jobs in the administration.

Multiple people with ties to Indiana politics said they saw a flood of applicants send resumes to the Trump transition. That influx has slowed as agency heads have started taking control and hiring their preferred staff.

Two of the eight members of Trumps Domestic Policy Council have Indiana ties: Rob Goad, an aide to Rep. Luke Messer, is Trumps point person on education policy. JaRon Smith, who served under Pence when he led the House Republican Conference, leads urban affairs and revitalization.

And Ryan Jarmula who worked for Pence in both Washington and Indiana took on a role under Trump adviser Stephen Miller during the campaign and has since joined the White House in a policy and speech-writing advisory role.

Pences allies are also among those who will be called upon to sell the White Houses ideas to members of Congress and the public.

As the head of Trumps legislative affairs shop, Short will play a key role coordinating congressional and White House efforts to pass repeal-and-replace legislation. Lloyd will have the task of explaining the advantages of any Obamacare replacement to the public while minimizing political fallout.

Outside of government, Ayers and Obst at America First will help build public support for whatever path the administration chooses.

In addition, Pence will have a legislative team of his own a far cry from his early years on Capitol Hill, when he crossed the Republican establishment by opposing the expansion of Medicare Part D, as well as the passage of the ambitious education law called No Child Left Behind under then-President George W. Bush.

Jonathan Hiler, who has worked with Pence, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), is now leading the team and will coordinate closely with the White House side of the operation led by Short.

Even for those inside the government, of course, there is no guarantee of having Trumps ear: Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats Trumps director of national intelligence was recently removed as a full member of the National Security Council, while Trump confidante Bannon was given a role.

And there are signs the Trump White House is sensitive to reports that Pence would run the show. Administration officials have taken to referring to Pence as an executor for Trumps plans, not an originator.

Asked recently for a statement ahead of Pences speech to Republican members of Congress in Philadelphia, Pences press secretary described the speech as focusing on excitement about the Presidents agenda moving forward.

Outside the administration, meanwhile, other Hoosiers are trading on their ties to Pence to boost business.

Former Pence chief of staff Bill Smith announced shortly after Trumps victory that he would open a Washington, D.C., branch of his Indiana lobbying firm. Smith is partnering with Fidelis Government Relations, whose clients include Microsoft and the Alliance for Israel Advocacy.

Also likely to benefit is the law and lobbying firm Barnes & Thornburg, based in Indiana with offices in Washington. Partner and former Pence counsel Matt Morgan recently left the firm to join the vice presidents office.

And partner Bob Grand, a longtime Pence donor, helped plan Trumps inauguration. Grand recently registered clients as a federal lobbyist after a long hiatus, among them gun maker Sig Sauer, in anticipation of doing more federal lobbying.

This is an administration thats going to be focused on getting a lot of things done, Grand said. We can help. Im obviously very loyal to Mike Pence, and hes a very loyal guy too. :

Link:
Pence molds the government in his own image - Politico