The Hill reports:
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that the flow of security assistance to Ukraine was not conditioned on Kiev investigating a conspiracy related to 2016 election interference, walking back statements he made earlier in the day.
Mulvaney issued a statement Thursday afternoon accusing the media of “misconstruing” his earlier remarks to the press at the White House “to advance a biased and political witch hunt against President Trump.”
“Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election,” Mulvaney said. “The president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server.”
When acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, was asked about Trump illegally withholding aid, he said “Get over it.”
Ethics still mean something in America, even if they mean nothing to Trump. #TellEveryVoter #EmolumentsClause pic.twitter.com/aYSMO6ztXX
— Swing Left (@swingleft) October 17, 2019
REPORTER: What you just described is a quid pro quo. It is funding will not flow unless the investigation into the Democratic server happened as well.
MULVANEY: We do that all the time with foreign policy…Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy. pic.twitter.com/wOCJ8Zka0S
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) October 17, 2019
And now…Mulvaney walks back his comments. “Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election.” https://t.co/XXkZiulERW
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) October 17, 2019
MULVANEY reverses course, walks back earlier statement confirming quid pro quo. pic.twitter.com/1NapGRgX8L
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 17, 2019
Mulvaney walks it back — and blames the media.
“There was never any connection between the funds and the Ukrainians doing anything with the server” pic.twitter.com/jDDMKQhFZs
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) October 17, 2019