Mick Mulvaney still has his job at the White House after Ukraine call gaffe
"I never said there was a quid pro quo cuz (sic) there isn't."
(The Slice): Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney still has a job after fallout from an admission of quid pro quo related to the Ukraine phone call scandal. He put the word "acting" in his title with his performance in an interview over the weekend. "I never said there was quid pro quo," said Mulvaney on FOX News attempting to pivot from the words that are on the record. To further clarify that he is now in complete denial he stated, falsely, "My language never said quid pro quo." In fact, he said there was quid pro quo and added "get over it" while discussing the normalcy of the government holding back funds in negotiations.
CRITCAL TO CONTEXT ON THIS MATTER: Congress has emphasized that violation of the law is not contingent upon the existence of quid pro quo. The solicitation of interference form a foreign government is breaking the law.
Usually when a staffer in Pres. Donald Trump orbit fails at their job or makes his "look bad" they are out the door. For some strange reason -- call it Trumpian thought --Trump is still supportive of Mulvaney currently. Perhaps he has not been terminated because it is too late in the term or that an ouster would confirm that what he said was true -- essentially that the president attempted to abuse his power to get a favor from a foreign leader.
Mulvaney is acting on the defensive as the PR person for the president trying to also clear up the POTUS' attempt to do business at his Doral Report. Trump changed his mind over the weekend bowing to pressure from Republicans, but Mulvaney clearly did not seem to understand that the change was the right things to do. He spoke about the Doral situation as if the president should have been allowed to break the law and continue to do business "At the end of the day, he still considers himself to be in the hospitality business and he wanted to put on the best show. . .We were all surprised at the level of push back."
Republicans are gradually turning away from Trump as the plot thickens around the impeachment inquiry. Sen. Lindsay Graham said, "if you could show me evidence of a quid pro quo outside the phone call. . .that would be disturbing." Graham is showing the first signs that he will back away from Trump, although the POTUS has a high approval rating in his state, South Carolina.
