Pence was present at the interview. Neither you nor the author of your article have that distinction. Pence believes he was lied to. So you either have to argue that Pence is a vapid buffoon, incapable of evaluating conversations, honesty, integrity, etc., or you have to denigrate the motives of a Christian man.
I believe Pence is intelligent and honest, and that his POV trumps yours. He is convinced he was lied to. For me, that settles it.
What was the lie? That he told Russia not to retaliate and said they would discuss things when Trump is in office? It’s so ambiguous that to call it a lie is an exaggeration. Second, if Trump thought he lied to Pence, why did Trump wait three weeks before bringing it up to him and only saying something after media reports? Pence is a Christian man, and he could have forgiven Flynn, but the administration turned over Flynn’s scalp, and I have been vindicated. They used the same strategy with Jeff Sessions. It worked to a degree because now Sessions has recused himself from the Russia scare investigation, and the media isn’t giving up. They would like to get him to step down altogether.