House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday that White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's remarks about aid to Ukraine made things "much, much worse" for the president.
Schiff told reporters Thursday, "I think Mr. Mulvaney's acknowledgment means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse," according to The Hill.
Mulvaney said during a press conference earlier that day that Trump warned him Ukraine is "a corrupt place," when asked about the administration's choice to withhold aid from the country, according to Fox News.
"Did [Trump] also mention to me, in the past, the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely," He said. "No question about that. But that's it. And that's why we held up the money . . . The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation. And that is absolutely appropriate."
Mulvaney added: "I have news for everybody. Get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy . . . that's going to happen. Elections have consequences."
When asked about "quid pro quo" in withholding aid to Ukraine, Mulvaney said, "we do that all the time with foreign policy."
Schiff added later Thursday, "The idea that vital military system will be withheld for such a patently political reason, for the reason of serving the president's re-election campaign, is a phenomenal breach of the president's duty to defend our national security."
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