Trump confronts limits of defense strateg y
White House to GOP: Stay united, object to process
President Donald Trump is confronting the limits of his main impeachment defense.
As the probe hits the one-month mark, Trump and his aides have largely ignored the details of the Ukraine allegations against him. Instead, they ’re loudly objecting to the House Democrats’ investigation process, using that as justification for ordering administration officials not to cooperate and complaining about what they deem prejudicial, even unconstitutional, secrecy.
But as a near-daily drip of derogatory evidence emerges from closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill, the White House assertion that the proceedings are unfair is proving to be a less-than-compelling counter to the mounting threat to Trump’s presidency. Some senior officials have complied with congressional subpoenas to assist House Democratic investigators, defying White House orders.
Asked about criticism that the White House lacks a coordinated pushback effort and could do a better job delivering its message, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said, “It ’s hard to message anything that ’s going on behind closed doors and in secret.”
It was a rare public admission from the White House.
White House officials, who have been treating unified Republican support for Trump as a given, have grown fearful of GOP defections in a House impeachment vote and a potential Senate trial. While they do not believe there will be enough votes to remove the president, the West Wing believes more must be done to shore up Republican support to avoid political peril.
Trump himself has been upset with his top aides — including Grisham and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — for not sufficiently changing the story line. Instead he relies on his Twitter account and Q&A sessions with reporters to launch daily attacks on the probe. And while Trump’s personal law yer, Rudy Giuliani, has added to the smoke screen, the former New York City mayor has scaled back his media appearances since several of his associates were arrested in connection with Ukraine.
Complaining privately and publicly that Democrats “stick together” better than the GOP, Trump has leaned on Republican congressional allies to do more, according to White House officials and Republicans close to the West Wing.
At first, Trump was angry that his surrogates failed to defend him effectively. Trump urged the GOP earlier this week to fight back, a lesson that was taken to heart by a group of conser vative Republicans who stormed a Capitol Hill hearing room on Wednesday to disrupt testimony in the probe.
Trump allies cheered that maneuver, believing it showed that Republicans were coming to grips with the severity of the situation. But the GOP complaints are largely about process and may have limited potency: Trump’s defenders are complaining that the inter views are being conducted in secret, which may soon change, and that Republicans are not involved, though GOP members can ask questions right alongside the Democrats.
On Thursday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a top ally of Trump, said he’s talked to Mulvaney about what seems to be a lackluster White House pushback.
Republicans have been complaining for weeks that the Trump White House has no defense system in place — partly a result of the inability to identify qualified talent but also Trump’s own qualms about projecting concern in the face of the investigation.
Wary of any erosion of GOP support, White House aides are stepping up their outreach to GOP lawmakers, through meetings, conference calls and retreats like the one hosted by Mulvaney last weekend at Camp David.