As the White House adds staff to fight impeachment, some of President Trump’s allies are urging him to name attorney Mark Paoletta “quarterback” of the effort.
Paoletta, general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has decades of experience in Washington political battles and is best known for his work helping confirm conservative Supreme Court justices.
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that Trump personally likes Paoletta, and they hope the idea gains traction.
A second White House official, however, said there are no apparent steps underway to have Paoletta, 57, take on broader impeachment responsibilities.
Paoletta, who worked as the top lawyer for Vice President Mike Pence during his first year in office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But people who have worked with him enthusiastically endorsed the notion.
Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist who has met with Trump in the White House and who is married to Justice Clarence Thomas, urged Trump to consider the idea.
“Mark’s extensive knowledge of the Hill, the radical leftist forces who influence the Hill, along with his fighting spirit, makes him a perfect asset for President Trump,” Thomas told the Washington Examiner. “He has the natural instincts to battle for truth in the political square, not getting lost in legal nuances. President Trump would be wise to enlist his talents as soon as possible, as this impeachment really began on the day President Trump was elected in 2016.”
[Read more: ‘Sham impeachment’: White House accuses Democrats of using vote to try to ‘destroy’ Trump]
Paoletta quietly assisted with the recent confirmation battles of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh but is best known for coordinating Thomas’s confirmation battle in 1991. He was a GOP attorney on the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 1997 to 2007.
“Mark is one of the sharpest minds I’ve ever worked with,” said a conservative strategist close to the White House. “His reputation is second to none. He’s been involved in so many fights over the decades. He knows how to fight and win these battles.”
Though supporters say he is well-known and respected in legal circles, Paoletta lacks the public persona of other figures floated as potential coordinators of impeachment efforts, such as former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, who was derailed by federal lobbying rules.
The White House has rejected the notion of a “war room” to fight impeachment, as was set up in 1998 to defend President Bill Clinton. The Clinton-era effort featured disciplined messaging and concerted outreach to reporters. Lacking a designated point person, the Trump White House has been riven with disagreement on strategy.
Opponents of White House counsel Pat Cipollone, generally allied with White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, say that Cipollone adopted a “bunker mentality” and has not treated impeachment as a political fight.
“[Paoletta has] the type of mindset that is desperately needed at a White House counsel’s office that has struggled to make this a political fight and not a legal one,” said a person familiar with efforts to promote Paoletta.
Sometime next week, the White House will add as temporary representatives former Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. They are expected to report to White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who also serves as communications director.
The White House official unaware of internal moves to empower Paoletta said, “I think there will always be enough moving parts for it to be a team effort. [Communications] may play a bigger role in facilitating the coordination.”
Paoletta’s name was floated this week by Mike Davis, who helped lead the successful White House push to confirm Kavanaugh, who, like Thomas, faced disputed sexual misconduct allegations. The first public impeachment hearings against Trump begin Wednesday.
“The Trump administration needs to step up right now because they’re behind on impeachment,” Davis told Yahoo News. “The Democrats are landing blows on the president.”
