Trump in tangle over Ukraine aid
White House chief of staff says comments over call for probe were misconstrued
The White House has acknowledged that US President Donald Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Kiev investigate the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 US presidential campaign.
The admission from acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney raised questions at the Justice Department and brought swift rebuke from Democrats, who cast his words as an admission of wrongdoing. Mulvaney said Trump did nothing improper because he was asking for help investigating a prior election, not seeking assistance with the 2020 contest. It’s illegal to seek or receive foreign help of value in a US election.
Mulvaney said the President’s move was part of efforts to clean up corruption in the Eastern European country. He appeared to be referring to unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about a purported Ukrainian link to Russia’s hack of the DNC during the last presidential election.
“The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation,” Mulvaney told reporters in the White House briefing room. “Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption that related to the DNC server? Absolutely, no question about that,” Mulvaney continued. “That’s why we held up the money.”
Mulvaney’s comments suggested a quid pro quo was at play for the military aid — but a different one than Democrats initially highlighted at the start of the impeachment probe. Democrats are probing whether Trump sought Ukraine’s help with investigating allegations about Democratic rival Joe Biden and other allegations from a government whistleblower’s compliant.
As for complaints about mixing politics with foreign policy, Mulvaney had a blunt rejoinder: “I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”
Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow issued a pointed statement distancing the President’s legal team from Mulvaney’s comments. “The President’s legal counsel was not involved in acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s press briefing,” it said.
Mulvaney later claimed his comments had been misconstrued.
“Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election,” he said. “The President never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server.” However, Mulvaney at the briefing had directly cited questions about the DNC server as a reason the money for Ukraine was being held up.
Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee leading the impeachment probe, said, “I think Mr Mulvaney’s acknowledgment means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse.”