Mulvaney Readdresses Statements About Ukraine

Reviews
On Thursday, Mick Mulvaney said Trump used $391 million in military defense aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating the 2016 election. On Sunday, Mulvaney said nothing of the kind was happening; he was misunderstood. This turn of events produced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. House committees are conducting an impeachment investigation to see whether or not Trump's "abuse-of-power" actions warrant a vote impeachment. The author seems to have no opinion on the matter at hand, but doesn't present the matter itself very clearly.
Common Facts
Definitions (12)
Mulvaney: Mick Mulvaney is President Trump's acting chief of staff.
Schiff: Adam Schiff is the Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman.
Murkowski: Lisa Murkowski is a Republican senator from Alaska.
Hunter: Hunter is Joe Biden's son.
Biden: Joe Biden is a possible Democratic presidential candidate.
Burisma: Burisma is a Ukrainian energy company.
Taylor: Bill Taylor is the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Reeker: Philip Reeker is the acting assistant secretary of European and Eurasian affairs in the State Department.
Mulvaney: Mick Mulvaney is the acting White House chief of staff.
Wallace: Chris Wallace is "Fox News Sunday's" anchor.
DNC: DNC stands for Democratic National committee.
Pompeo: Mike Pompeo is the secretary of state.
Review Info (3)
First Published: 10/21/2019 08:37:09 pm
Last Updated: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Original Front Page Link
NPR
Content (22)
On Thursday, Mulvaney said that the White House used nearly $400 million in military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the 2016 election.
On Sunday, Mulvaney tried to retrace his steps.
On Sunday, Mulvaney spoke with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."
Mulvaney's statements on Thursday were said during a televised news conference.
On Thursday, Mulvaney told reporters that Congress had already taken the military aid to Ukraine.
Mulvaney's remarks were repeated across the Capitol.
Mulvaney's remarks prompted denouncements from both Republicans and Democrats.
"Some Republicans also condemned the surprise remarks."
Following Mulvaney's remarks, the Justice Department, Trump's personal attorney, and Mulvaney himself backed off and tried to clean up Mulvaney's remarks.
Continuing his complete change of opinion, Mulvaney said on Sunday that he never used specific words "quid pro quo."
Trump's long-standing defense is that military aid to Ukraine was never conditioned by advancing Trump's political agenda.
Three House committees are leading the impeachment investigation.
These three House committees continually bring witnesses to the Capitol.
"On Thursday, Mulvaney said he was only aware of Trump's desire to have Ukraine look into the hacked DNC servers."
However, texts among State Department officials apparently reveal a plan to get Ukraine to investigate Burisma.
Hunter serves of the board of Burisma
The USA eventually delivered $391 million in military defense aid to Ukraine.
On Sunday, Mulvaney said the delivery of the $391 million in defense aid alone should "put the matter to bed."
On Thursday, Mulvaney was asked if he ever thought his "explosive comments" would cost him his job.
On Thursday, Mulvaney said, "Absolutely positively not. Did I have the perfect press conference? No, but again the facts are on our side."
Meanwhile, impeachment investigators are examining Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
These investigators are expected to call at least Taylor and Reeker for testimony soon.
Opinion (22)
On Sunday, Mulvaney tried to "control the damage" made by commenting again on Thursday.
Mulvaney's comments on Thursday are a stunning admission.
On Sunday, Mulvaney assigned responsibility to the media.
On Sunday, Mulvaney insisted his words were misinterpreted.
On Sunday, Mulvaney flatly denied what he said on Thursday.
Mulvaney's statements on Thursday were that military defense funding was stopped partly over the demand that Ukraine launch an investigation that could politically benefit Trump.
"That's not what I said. That's what people said that I said," Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney said, "Can I see how people took that the wrong way? Absolutely. But I never said there was a quid pro quo, because there isn't."
On Thursday, Mulvaney said Congress was using the military aid as a lever for Trump's demand that Kyiv investigate a false conspiracy theory.
This false conspiracy theory blames Ukraine for election interference in 2016.
Ukraine's alleged election interference involved hacking the Democratic National Committee computer servers.
The "intelligence community" has concluded that the effort was organized by Russia.
On Thursday, Mulvaney said, "Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. But that's it, and that's why we held up the money."
On Thursday, Mulvaney told reporters that "we do that all the time with foreign policy," referring to politics influencing foreign affairs.
Schiff said Mulvaney's admission meant "things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse."
Murkowski said, "You don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative, period."
Mulvaney said the "back and forth" and "rapid fire" ways of White House press briefings may have left some people confused about what he was trying to say.
On Sunday, Mulvaney said "there was never any connection between the flow of money and the server."
Because Mulvaney is saying on Thursday the opposite of what he said Sunday, he weakens Trump's long-standing defense.
The problem lies in the impeachment inquiry into Trump's interactions with the president of Ukraine.
These witnesses are in a case examining abuse-of-power allegations that could lead to lawmakers voting on whether to impeach the president.
The military defense aid was at the "core of the scandal."
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 10/20/2019 02:21:00 pm
Date Accessed: 10/20/2019 03:03:00 pm
Article Author: Bobby Allyn
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The New York Times
Content (20)
On Thursday, Mulvaney said the Trump administration offered to give military aid to Ukraine if Ukraine investigated the Democrats.
Mulvaney said he did not have a "perfect press conference."
Mulvaney appeared on "Fox News Sunday."
Mulvaney disagreed with Wallace.
Mulvaney struggled to explain how his comments Sunday were not at odds with his comments Thursday.
On Thursday, Mulvaney had a news briefing with reporters.
Wallace played back Mulvaney's appearance on Thursday.
"Pressed by Mr. Wallace, Mr. Mulvaney said he was “not acknowledging there’s three reasons.”"
Wallace urged that Mulvaney said "three reasons."
Mulvaney said he didn't speak clearly on Thursday.
Mulvaney said people misinterpreted what he said.
Mulvaney's comments on Thursday alarmed the White House and its Republican allies in Congress.
Mulvaney said it was "legitimate for the president to want to know what's going on with the ongoing investigation into the server. Can I see how people took that the wrong way? Absolutely."
On Sunday, Pompeo declined to contribute to Mulvaney's news conference.
Mulvaney initially held Thursday's news conference to announce the site for the Group of 7 summit.
Mulvaney acknowledged that President Trump made "the right decision to change" the host location from his Trump National Doral resort after political arguments between Democrats and Republicans.
On Saturday, Trump announced that the summit would no longer be held there.
Trump changed the location after being "honestly surprised by the level of pushback," according to Mulvaney.
Mulvaney said the Trump still considers himself to be in the hospitality business.
Mulvaney said Trump wants to take the biggest leaders around the world the very best way, and was doing it well at Doral.
Opinion (13)
On Sunday, Mulvaney tried to back off assertions he made last week on Thursday.
Wallace said Mulvaney's remarks were proof of a quid pro quo, which the president has publicly denied for weeks.
Mulvaney said, “That’s what people are saying that I said, but I didn’t say that."
On Sunday, Mulvaney said that he outlined two reasons for withholding aid to Ukraine.
In reality, Mulvaney on Thursday outlined three reasons: "the corruption in the country, whether other countries were also giving aid to Ukraine, and whether the Ukrainian officials were cooperating in a Justice Department investigation."
On Thursday, Mulvaney said both the president's concern about interference in the 2016 election and his interest in a "widely debunked theory" that a DNC server is being held in Ukraine was part of the final reason for withholding aid to Ukraine.
"“I recognize that,” Mr. Mulvaney responded. But he urged Mr. Wallace “to go back to what actually happened in the real world.”"
Mulvaney said the facts are "absolutely clear and they are there for everyone to see.”
Mulvaney said a quid pro quo was not possible because “the money flowed without any connection whatsoever to the D.N.C. server.”
Mulvaney's comments alarmed them because a "Democratic impeachment inquiry over Ukraine gathers steam."
On Sunday, Mulvaney reinforced his assertion that Trump had a right to "demand information about the investigation in the unfounded theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was involved in hacking and releasing Democratic Party emails during the 2016 election."
“I will leave to the chief of staff to explain what it is he said and what he intended,” Mr. Pompeo said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Mulvaney says the Trump administration will find another place the media doesn't like and will be able to put an excellent G7 there.
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 10/20/2019 12:00:00 am
Date Accessed: 10/20/2019 04:41:00 pm
Article Author: Katie Rogers and Emily Cochrane
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