A dispute erupts between the Mulvaney and Cipollone camps over how to counter House Democrats’ impeachment push
The White House’s bifurcated and disjointed response to Democrats’ impeachment inquiry has been fueled by a fierce West Wing battle between two of President Trump’s top advisers, and the outcome of the messy skirmish could be on full display this week, according to White House and congressional officials.
Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has urged aides not to comply with the inquiry and blocked any cooperation with congressional Democrats. Top political aides at the Office of Management and Budget, which Mulvaney once led, have fallen in line with his defiant stance, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about the behind-the-scenes developments.
Mulvaney’s office blames White House counsel Pat Cipollone for not doing more to stop other government officials from participating in the impeachment inquiry, as a number of State Department officials, diplomats and an aide to Vice President Pence have given sworn testimony to Congress.
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Cipollone, meanwhile, has fumed that Mulvaney only made matters worse with his Oct. 17 news conference, when he publicly acknowledged a quid pro quo, essentially confirming Democrats’ accusations in front of television cameras and reporters. Cipollone did not want Mulvaney to hold the news conference, a message that was passed along to the acting chief of staff’s office, according to two senior Trump advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A Mulvaney aide said a team of White House lawyers prepared him for the news conference and never said he should not do it.
Mick Mulvaney’s bombshell briefing on Ukraine, in 2 minutes
Here are key moments from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's remarks to reporters about Ukraine on Oct. 17. (Zach Purser Brown/The Washington Post)
Neither Mulvaney nor Cipollone has broad experience navigating a White House through such a tumultuous period. But their actions have contributed to the White House’s increasingly tenuous response to the impeachment inquiry, in which public hearings are set to begin Wednesday in the House. Despite the high stakes, the White House moved slowly to hire a staff specifically dedicated to working on the impeachment issue, a concern that was expressed to the White House by multiple GOP senators, Capitol Hill aides said.
“This will be the toughest political fight this White House has faced. They need to be sure they are totally focused and that all their fire is pointed outward — not at each other,” said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist who was a top aide to former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
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Complicating matters, on Friday, the same day he defied a congressional subpoena to testify, Mulvaney sought to join a separation-of-powers lawsuit filed against Trump and the House leadership by a onetime deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton. The move infuriated Bolton allies, The Washington Post has reported, partly because Bolton and other national security aides viewed Mulvaney as a key architect in pressuring Ukraine to launch political investigations on behalf of Trump.
Mulvaney’s move to join the lawsuit baffled several administration officials, people familiar with the matter said. The lawsuit could have provided a legal basis for Mulvaney’s refusal to testify in the impeachment inquiry, but late Monday he withdrew, saying he will file his own suit to ask the courts to decide if senior Trump administration officials must testify in the impeachment inquiry.
The Office of Management and Budget has served as Mulvaney’s biggest bulwark, because it played a key role in blocking nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine over the summer. The OMB is led by a close Mulvaney ally, acting director Russell Vought, who has refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, as have other political appointees at the agency. But the increasingly political nature of the OMB has rattled a number of high-level career staffers, and several have resigned in the past year, including one who announced his departure in the midst of the turmoil this summer.
More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-p...th-itself-even-it-fights-impeachment-inquiry/
The White House’s bifurcated and disjointed response to Democrats’ impeachment inquiry has been fueled by a fierce West Wing battle between two of President Trump’s top advisers, and the outcome of the messy skirmish could be on full display this week, according to White House and congressional officials.
Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has urged aides not to comply with the inquiry and blocked any cooperation with congressional Democrats. Top political aides at the Office of Management and Budget, which Mulvaney once led, have fallen in line with his defiant stance, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about the behind-the-scenes developments.
Mulvaney’s office blames White House counsel Pat Cipollone for not doing more to stop other government officials from participating in the impeachment inquiry, as a number of State Department officials, diplomats and an aide to Vice President Pence have given sworn testimony to Congress.
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Cipollone, meanwhile, has fumed that Mulvaney only made matters worse with his Oct. 17 news conference, when he publicly acknowledged a quid pro quo, essentially confirming Democrats’ accusations in front of television cameras and reporters. Cipollone did not want Mulvaney to hold the news conference, a message that was passed along to the acting chief of staff’s office, according to two senior Trump advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A Mulvaney aide said a team of White House lawyers prepared him for the news conference and never said he should not do it.
Mick Mulvaney’s bombshell briefing on Ukraine, in 2 minutes
Here are key moments from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's remarks to reporters about Ukraine on Oct. 17. (Zach Purser Brown/The Washington Post)
Neither Mulvaney nor Cipollone has broad experience navigating a White House through such a tumultuous period. But their actions have contributed to the White House’s increasingly tenuous response to the impeachment inquiry, in which public hearings are set to begin Wednesday in the House. Despite the high stakes, the White House moved slowly to hire a staff specifically dedicated to working on the impeachment issue, a concern that was expressed to the White House by multiple GOP senators, Capitol Hill aides said.
“This will be the toughest political fight this White House has faced. They need to be sure they are totally focused and that all their fire is pointed outward — not at each other,” said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist who was a top aide to former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
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Complicating matters, on Friday, the same day he defied a congressional subpoena to testify, Mulvaney sought to join a separation-of-powers lawsuit filed against Trump and the House leadership by a onetime deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton. The move infuriated Bolton allies, The Washington Post has reported, partly because Bolton and other national security aides viewed Mulvaney as a key architect in pressuring Ukraine to launch political investigations on behalf of Trump.
Mulvaney’s move to join the lawsuit baffled several administration officials, people familiar with the matter said. The lawsuit could have provided a legal basis for Mulvaney’s refusal to testify in the impeachment inquiry, but late Monday he withdrew, saying he will file his own suit to ask the courts to decide if senior Trump administration officials must testify in the impeachment inquiry.
The Office of Management and Budget has served as Mulvaney’s biggest bulwark, because it played a key role in blocking nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine over the summer. The OMB is led by a close Mulvaney ally, acting director Russell Vought, who has refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, as have other political appointees at the agency. But the increasingly political nature of the OMB has rattled a number of high-level career staffers, and several have resigned in the past year, including one who announced his departure in the midst of the turmoil this summer.
More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-p...th-itself-even-it-fights-impeachment-inquiry/
