RUSH: James in Brooksville, Florida, to you, sir. Open Line Friday. Hi. How are you?

CALLER: I’m very fine, and I really appreciate getting a chance to speak with you before I die. I’m 79. But I’m a patriot. I live in a Republican county. You wouldn’t know it by the people who vote here because they all went to Hillary. But I’m very concerned over hearing this morning that our vice president has hired his own individual counsel on this Russian thing. Can you tell me why? Is he not trusting Trump anymore?

RUSH: Oh, I don’t think it’s anything to do with that. I think they’re both potential targets. I mean, once you’ve got the independent counsel out there just going anywhere with no limits on anything. And, believe me, Mueller has no limits. He can look at anything he wants. That’s one of the things that’s wrong with this.

CALLER: Is he afraid of Mueller?

RUSH: I don’t think he’s afraid of Mueller. I think it’s just common sense. When the Department of Justice has authorized this vast and massive special counsel to start looking at things, sometimes you need a lawyer more than ever when you’re innocent.

CALLER: Well, that’s true. Yes.

RUSH: So I don’t think Pence going out and getting a lawyer indicates that he thinks Trump is in trouble. I just think it’s a natural thing for somebody in the administration to do. They’re being targeted. By the way, there’s a school of thought running around in Washington on Capitol Hill, one of the explanations, when you start asking Republicans, “Why are you not trying to move the Trump agenda? Why are you sitting on your hands? Why do you let Democrats run the show?” One of the answers you get is, “We’re waiting for Pence.”

I ran this theory by a sitting member of the Republican House of Representatives, and he thought, “Rush, I haven’t heard that. I haven’t heard a word of that.” And he started looking into it, and he wrote me back. He said, “I must ask your forgiveness.” There are apparently — I don’t know what the number is, but there are enough Republicans, some in the House, who are convinced that Trump’s gonna be impeached. They are convinced that Trump is toast. And they want to hold off on moving the Trump agenda until he’s gone so it then becomes President Pence.

I mean, Pence is one of them. Pence is a governor. Pence is a member of the House. Pence is a friendly. Pence is a guy they understand and know. They’re not embarrassed. They’re not ashamed or any of that. And I think there’s some validity. Take Pence out of it. I think there’s a sizable group of Republicans that think Trump isn’t going to make it. And, as such, they are sitting on their hands and not advancing Trump’s agenda because they think that once Trump goes, his agenda is gonna be the next thing and that anybody that voted for it is gonna get the same treatment Trump got. So even though they’re running the show, you just don’t see much evidence.