Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s acting chief of staff, is now backtracking on his rather strong admission that Trump ordered foreign aid to Ukraine approved by Congress held up as part of a quid pro quo aimed at getting Ukraine to launch some sort of investigation against Democrats that would help the president politically.
“I have news for everybody: Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy. That is going to happen. Elections have consequences” Mulvaney had said at a Thursday afternoon presser, and rather defiantly, at that, adding moments later, in response to a follow-up question, pointing out that Mulvaney was admitting to the definition of a quid pro quo in the Ukraine matter: “We do that all the time with foreign policy.”
Aha. Got it.
To the backtrack, then.
“Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election.”
This, after the expected mumbo jumbo fake news nonsense that you’d expect from the Trump inner circle.
Don’t overlook the obvious here. Mulvaney wasn’t misquoted, unless he was misquoting himself, and he didn’t go out in front of reporters to speak off the cuff.
Mulvaney was the puppet; Trump was the one behind the curtain, pulling the strings.
That was classic Trump, telling you that he can shoot a person in the middle of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and still get elected, using Mulvaney as his mouthpiece.
There’s a reason Mulvaney has acting in front of his chief of staff title.
Everybody’s expendable in TrumpWorld.
Why people willingly sign on for any gig with the guy is another question for another day.
What’s not at question here is the sum effect of what we saw yesterday.
Trump just told you, again, that he absolutely, unequivocally, strong-armed a foreign leader into investigating a Trump political rival, using U.S. taxpayer dollars, appropriated by Congress, illegally as hell, thumb in the nose of the Constitution, and … whaddaygonnadooaboudit?
You know the answer: nothing.
Column by Chris Graham
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