Nancy LeTourneau, speculating at Washington Monthly about why Nick Ayers turned down Trump’s job offer:

It is impossible to know exactly what Ayers is up to. In November, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed suit against Ayers and one of his companies, Freedom Frontier, for illegally laundering dark money to political campaigns, noting it’s nefarious ties to the Vice President’s chief of staff. So perhaps he needed to get out of town before the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that he’s exiting a White House that is about to implode as a way to try to save his own reputation. Or maybe his plans to preserve Pence’s options as the next POTUS are better served from outside the administration.

My guess? All of the above.