A power struggle within the White House has defenders of acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney accusing White House counsel Pat Cipollone’s office of causing the impeachment crisis threatening President Trump.
Cipollone must explain when he learned of concerns about Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president and explain why he did not take action to mitigate them, Mulvaney allies told the Washington Examiner.
Two White House officials said they believe incompetence by Cipollone may have allowed concerns about the call to mount while most other White House staff were in the dark about the problem until September.
The White House counsel’s office knew of concerns about the call shortly after it was placed, though it is unclear when Cipollone was briefed by his staff.
One White House official told the Washington Examiner that Cipollone’s perceived “bunker mentality” on impeachment may be the result of him “trying to conceal the extent to which [his] office was aware early of a complaint about the call and the fact that they didn’t share that information with the rest of the team.”
If Trump knew of concerns about the call and the threat it posed to his presidency, he could have moved to protect himself, officials allied with Mulvaney said.
Trump could have taken action, they said, to head off claims that he withheld $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to force investigations into a Democratic computer server and former Vice President Joe Biden, two requests Trump made on the July call.
Mulvaney was reportedly told by Trump in mid-July to withhold the military aid before making the Ukraine call. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to allow House impeachment proceedings in September after a whistleblower complaint became publicly known. Democrats seeking to impeach Trump point to his alleged use of government funds to further his own political interests.
“Let’s say NSC staff or State [Department career employees] or others had concerns that could be cleared up through a conversation with Mick or anyone else. Some of those concerns may have been assuaged,” one of the White House officials said.
A second White House official confirmed that there’s concern that Cipollone’s inaction led to the crisis.
At least one attorney in Cipollone’s office, deputy counsel John Eisenberg, was in contact with the CIA’s general counsel about anonymous concerns before a complaint was filed Aug. 14 to the Intelligence Community inspector general. The complaint led to congressional inquiries.
Even before speaking with the CIA general counsel, Eisenberg was “aware of vague concerns about the call,” according to a report.
Tension between Mulvaney and Cipollone broke into the open last week after Mulvaney appeared to admit that Trump pressured Ukraine to open an investigation as a condition of foreign aid. He later backtracked.
Mulvaney allies expressed frustration with Cipollone, saying his lack of communication prevents effective pushback against Democrats. They favor a more aggressive approach.
CBS News reported that Cipollone was interested in replacing Mulvaney as chief of staff. A close personal friend of Cipollone’s, Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, met with Trump on Friday as the “feud” between the men broke into the open.
A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on behalf of Cipollone.
“They could clear it up if they were just willing to explain what they were thinking,” a White House official told the Washington Examiner. “Even just to say, for example, ‘We didn’t think we needed to share this at the time but obviously we were wrong, let’s all work together to fix it.'”
