A little while ago I saw headlines breaking that Mick Mulvaney said that Trump withheld foreign aid to Ukraine in order to investigate Democrats, calling it a quid pro quo. I think CNN had it on their anti-Trump chyron saying “White House admits to quid pro quo with Ukraine”. My initial reaction was one of disbelief, and after watching what Mulvaney actually said, I’m glad I double checked.
I’ve got the video cued up for you at 18:54 and it goes until about 25:43:
I encourage you to watch the entire segment I outlined in the clip above, because what you will learn is two things:
- Mulvaney was referring to corruption by Democrats in the 2016 election
- ‘Investigating Democrats’ was in coordination with the already ongoing investigation by John Durham at the DOJ
It had nothing to do with Biden or the DNC as it relates to 2020, and thus this is really a big nothingburger.
I would also encourage you to back it up to the beginning and watch Mulvaney’s comments on choosing Trump’s Doral resort as the “best place” to hold the upcoming G7. He explains that it’s not only better for taxpayers, but that Trump will not be profiting from it and that logistically it was the best of 12 venues they looked at for holding the G7.
This will be important because Democrats will undoubtedly raise holy hell about his and try and make it an emoluments issue. That isn’t to say that there aren’t good and fair questions that should be asked of the administration, considering that Trump owns Doral. But if it’s as Mulvaney says it is, it will also be a nothingburger.