White House press events have become rarer since Donald Trump took over the presidency. After the appearance of Mick Mulvaney on Thursday (local time) it should be clear why. Because the executive chief of staff of the US president has caused with his statements to Ukraine affair for considerable excitement - and a central reproach in the impeachment pre-litigation roundly admitted.
Mulvaney admitted in Washington's rare appearance that the US government had temporarily withheld a Congressional disbursement of military aid to the Ukraine at times - also with regard to alleged events surrounding the presidential election in 2016.
The US $ 400 million disbursement to the Eastern European country would have linked the US to three concerns, Mulvaney said. There were concerns about the corruption in the country and the lack of financial support from other states for Ukraine.
Mick Mulvaney's bombshell press briefing in 2 minutes pic.twitter.com/6fWrn79Gs7
- Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) October 17, 2019It was also about whether the government of President Volodymyr Selenskyj would cooperate in a "determination of our Ministry of Justice" for the 2016 election, said Mulvaney. A give and take is common in foreign policy. "I have news for everyone: be clear that foreign policy will always be linked to political influence," he said.
Behind Mulvaney's reference to the 2016 presidential election is a conspiracy theory circulating in conservative circles, according to which a server was said to have been hidden in Ukraine, on which allegedly incriminating material for the Democratic Party was. For the theory there is no evidence.
The blocked military aid to Ukraine is part of the investigation by US Democrats in the House of Representatives for possible impeachment of Trump. In the room, the accusation that the Republican president used the power of his office to force Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, is one of the Democrats' most promising presidential candidates. According to the Democrats, military aid is said to have served as a lever.
Video: Top Democrats break off meetings with Trump after scandal
MICHAEL REYNOLDS / EPA-EFE / REX
"The money withheld had absolutely nothing to do with Biden," Mulvaney said. However, his statement suggested that there was certainly a party political motive behind the decision to stop military aid for the time being. For weeks Trump and his allies have tried with all their might to refute this impression.
Mulvaney's statements - and plenty of horror in the ranks of his own party - made for appropriate headlines. Trump's attorneys, the Department of Justice, and high-ranking Republicans distanced themselves from him and puzzled over his motives.
The chief of staff was then forced to give a written statement to somehow capture his explosive statements. His statements were misrepresented, he claimed on Thursday evening (local time). This is quite remarkable, as his statements in front of current television cameras were clear and unequivocal.
The Democrats see Trump under even greater pressure
There was no consideration for the military aid to Ukraine in connection with investigations into the 2016 election.
"The president never told me to hold back money until the Ukrainians did something about the server," Mulvaney said. The deciding factor was that other countries did not pay military aid to Kiev to the same extent as the United States and that there were problems with corruption in the country. The damage done he should have repaired so but hardly. Trump himself stated on demand that he had "much confidence" in Mulvaney. However, the US channel CNN reported that Trump is anything but happy with the performance of his advisor.
The Democrats found Mulvaney's remarks to be a heavy burden on Trump. Things would have turned out to be "very, very bad, too much, much worse" for the president, wrote the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, in the short message service Twitter. Schiff leads the investigation into Democratic targeted impeachment Trump. The investigation was triggered by the Ukraine affair.
