The best take so far on the arrest of President Trump is from his erstwhile running mate, Vice President Pence. He happened to walk into a Journal interview just as the television was carrying the headline, “Donald Trump Now Under Arrest.” The heroic Hoosier may be behind some of the other contenders in the Republican presidential primary, but none has put as squarely as he has the hay down where us mules can get to it. 

Mr. Pence told the Journal that he deems the allegations to be “very serious” and that he couldn’t “defend what is alleged.” He laid particular emphasis on “documents pertaining to the defense capabilities of the United States and our allies, our nuclear program, to potential vulnerabilities of the United States and our allies . . .  Even the inadvertent release of that kind of information could compromise our national security and the safety of our armed forces.”

The former vice president no doubt spoke for millions of Americans when he said that “having two members of our immediate family serving in the armed forces” he would “never diminish the importance of protecting our nation’s secrets.” Yet he  also stressed that the President is entitled to his day in court, “he’s entitled to bring a defense.” Mr. Pence said he would reserve judgment until Mr. Trump has had an opportunity to respond.

The most striking part of Mr. Pence’s remarks, at least to us, were those in which he spoke of the politicization of American justice. He sees it in the context of the department’s role in the “two and a half years of a Russia hoax.” Says Mr. Pence: “After years of politicization, it’s hard for me to believe that politics didn’t play some role in this decision.” It’s hard to recall a figure of Mr. Pence’s rank saying that kind of thing about the DOJ.

Millions of Americans, Mr. Pence declared in his conversation with the Journal, are “deeply troubled by this indictment, particularly given the fact that Hillary Clinton engaged in very similar behavior in the 2016 campaign and did not face indictment.” He declared flatly that “the American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice, not just because of this, but because of, really, a long series of abuses that have come to light.”

The Journal’s editorial quotes Mr. Pence as saying that if he’s elected in 2024, he’d clean house. “We’re going to give the Department of Justice a fresh start, with men and women who are respected on both sides of the aisle for their commitment to the law.” It strikes us as an important marker in this campaign, and from the figure who was most intensely tested on January 6, 2021, and who clung so tenaciously to the Constitution.