The White House is 'paralyzed' and 'teetering on the edge of a cliff' as it grapples with Ukraine fallout and 'Hurricane Rudy'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The White House is 'paralyzed' and 'teetering on the edge of a cliff' as it grapples with Ukraine fallout and 'Hurricane Rudy'
Sonam Sheth, Business Insider 1 hour 56 minutes ago
- The White House is "paralyzed" and "teetering on the edge of a cliff" in the wake of an explosive whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump's phone call with the Ukrainian president, a White House official told Insider.
- A senior US official backed up that characterization, describing the mood within the White House as "a Category 5 storm."
- Complicating things is the outsize role Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is playing in the controversy, as well as Trump's public comments on the matter. "We're just waiting for Hurricane Rudy to stop obliterating everything in its path," the White House official told Insider.
- Trump's advisers are also worried that the White House lacks a cohesive internal apparatus to push back on House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Trump, who has defended his call as legal and appropriate.
- Insider spoke with half a dozen current and former officials and advisers who described a White House reeling from days of Ukraine coverage and struggling to find a persuasive argument to counter Democrats' rising calls for impeachment.
- Trump needs a "defense that doesn't look like it was put together by a bunch of pissed-off preschoolers," a former White House official said. "You can't go around screaming 'fake news' and 'witch hunt' when you yourself put the evidence out there. It doesn't work that way."
- They added: "This isn't a two-year-long investigation like the Mueller probe — this thing is moving fast, and if the president doesn't get out ahead of it, it's going to swallow him up."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
"A Category 5 storm."
That's how one senior US official described the mood within the White House as it grapples with the fallout from an explosive whistleblower complaint that spurred an impeachment inquiry that threatens Donald Trump's presidency.
At the heart of the controversy is a phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, during which the US president repeatedly pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Biden is one of the 2020 Democratic frontrunners and has been Trump's chief political rival.
Insider spoke with half a dozen current and former officials and advisers who described a White House reeling from days of negative coverage and struggling to find a persuasive argument to counter Democrats' rising calls for impeachment.
The House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, revealed the existence of the whistleblower's complaint last month. But it was initially unclear what the complaint was about, or even whom it was filed against, because the Office of the Director of National Intelligence refused to release it to Congress.
As the public firestorm around the complaint and the phone call mounted, Trump decided to release a White House summary of his conversation with Zelensky, believing that he had done nothing wrong and that releasing it would calm some of the backlash and help him come out the other end of the controversy.
"It was the stupidest f---ing thing I'd heard in months," a GOP adviser familiar with the president's thought process told Insider of Trump's rationale for releasing the memo. "Anyone who heard what was said on that call knew it would bury the president. That's why they went and buried the transcript. I can't fathom what would lead him to believe this would help his case."
The source was referring to an allegation that senior White House officials tried to lock down all records of the call after the conversation. That detail was included in the whistleblower's complaint, released by Congress last Thursday, the day after the White House's memo about the call was made public.
Officials told the whistleblower they were "directed" by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system such documents are typically stored in and to place it in a codeword-level system, a National Security Council server meant to house classified and highly sensitive information pertaining to US national security.
The transcript hasn't been released. But the White House's summary of the call is more than damning and provides plenty of fodder for House Democrats as they conduct an impeachment inquiry, current and former officials told Insider.
The memo largely corroborates the whistleblower's claims that Trump tried to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election, and the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, told Congress last week that the memo was "in alignment" with the complaint.
Trump, meanwhile, has defended his conduct during the call as "perfect."
The White House and Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
'We're just waiting for Hurricane Rudy to stop obliterating everything in its path'
Complicating matters further is the outsize role that Giuliani is playing in the controversy, as well as the White House's lack of a cohesive apparatus to push back on the impeachment inquiry.
"We're just waiting for Hurricane Rudy to stop obliterating everything in its path," one White House official told Insider. Asked what they meant, the official replied, "Have you been watching TV lately?"
The official was referring to Giuliani's slew of cable news appearances in recent days, during which he erupted at the news anchors interviewing him, contradicted himself, confirmed he asked the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens, implicated the State Department in the controversy, and said he would not cooperate with the House's investigation into the matter.
Read more: Trump pressed Australia's prime minister to help AG Barr investigate the origins of the Russia probe
Trump has also been unusually active on Twitter in recent days, firing off dozens of tweets accusing the whistleblower of being a spy and committing treason; suggesting Schiff should be investigated for treason; and quoting a Fox News guest who implied that a civil war would break out if Trump were impeached.
Together, the White House official said, Trump and Giuliani's antics have left the White House "paralyzed" and "teetering on the edge of a cliff" as it tries to cobble together a coherent defense against House Democrats' impeachment investigation.
'This thing is moving fast, and if the president doesn't get out ahead of it, it's going to swallow him up'
But the president has told aides and confidants he doesn't need a more robust legal team, sources told Insider, because he believes that he's his own best attorney and that the right-wing media machine will boost his case.
Perhaps for that reason, Trump was infuriated with the Fox News host Chris Wallace and correspondent Ed Henry over the weekend, both of whom raised questions about the president's misleading defense against the whistleblower's claims.
Trump expressed his anger toward Henry through a series of almost two dozen tweets and retweets attacking Henry and praising the far-right radio host Mark Levin for tearing into Henry during an interview on Fox News.
On the other hand, sources told Insider the president was thrilled with the performances of the White House policy aide Stephen Miller and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on the Sunday shows, where both men vehemently defended Trump's actions and laid the blame at Biden's and the Democrats' feet.
Read more: House Democrats subpoena Rudy Giuliani as part of impeachment inquiry over Trump's Ukraine call
Still, others around the president have been working overtime to persuade him to beef up his war room as they anticipate the drip-drip nature of the whistleblower controversy and the impeachment investigation will continue taking its toll on Trump's ability to govern.
Trump "is consumed by this," one former White House official told Insider, and "he needs to find a way to put down his phone and actually do his job."
"But he can't do that while he's surrounded by these PR clowns," the official added, referring to Giuliani and the Fox News contributors Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing, all of whom the president is said to have dispatched to dig up dirt on the Bidens.
Trump also needs a "defense that doesn't look like it was put together by a bunch of pissed-off preschoolers," the former official added. "You can't go around screaming 'fake news' and 'witch hunt' when you yourself put the evidence out there. It doesn't work that way. This isn't a two-year-long investigation like the Mueller probe — this thing is moving fast, and if the president doesn't get out ahead of it, it's going to swallow him up."
Tags
Who is online
108 visitors
Trump "is consumed by this," one former White House official told Insider, and "he needs to find a way to put down his phone and actually do his job."
"But he can't do that while he's surrounded by these PR clowns," the official added, referring to Giuliani and the Fox News contributors Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing, all of whom the president is said to have dispatched to dig up dirt on the Bidens.
Trump also needs a "defense that doesn't look like it was put together by a bunch of pissed-off preschoolers," the former official added. "You can't go around screaming 'fake news' and 'witch hunt' when you yourself put the evidence out there. It doesn't work that way. This isn't a two-year-long investigation like the Mueller probe — this thing is moving fast, and if the president doesn't get out ahead of it, it's going to swallow him up."
Do his job? Since when has he done his job?
Put down his phone????
right........
His unsecured phone by the way.
The Dems better push harder, 'cause the crappy "Same Old Dinosaur" stuff they've been doin', is starting to come out .
"The Swamp" is really starting to drain as we speak.
You Go Bill, Rudy and John !
They're all drowning in their own swamp.
Just don't say it...… "Sense" me ….. "Teach" me ….. do "Something" !
Nice to see some people know and retract a statement they know is gonna get some mod attention................hahaha
Go sense yourself. I'm sure you're very good at that.
That's what the delete/update buttons are for. Some just are too dull to catch on and keep up.
Duh.
I have the right to change my mind and change my statement.
Mod attention?
I guess when some folks flag everything I post, it's bound to catch someone's attention.
You'd only "Ignore" it ….. as usual !
Quick ….. what does "Sense" mean ?
If you obviously don't know I can't help you.
Don't know what ?
That's what I thought.
Thought ?
If it were true, that's sad. You know there is quite possibly, if that truly happens, an underlying reason. I'll think about that for you and see what I can legally (within the CoC) help you out with. Hmmmmmmmm. Nope guess that would be pretty much impossible. And I know what the delete and update "buttons" are for. Thing is, once someone highlights it and replies, it remains for posterity.
It is true. Perrie told me multiple posters flag just about everything I post.
When I need your help, I'll let you know, which will be when hell freezes over.
Now scoot.
? Well, Trump has fired more of his of staff, aides and cabinet members than any other President in history, so I guess you could say he's draining his swamp. Sadly, he's just replacing them with even worse brown nosing suck up sycophants who proclaim their loyalty to Trump and not to our country, so we're worse off than ever before.
That's a bad thing ?
"Sadly, he's just replacing them with even worse brown nosing suck up sycophants"
And the "Left" actually vote in the same Ol' crap !
Adam "I'll Adlib anything" Schiff.
Nancy "I saw it before you did" Pelosi.
Chuck "I'll cry for Mexico" Schumer.
Steve "Give me Chicken" Cohen.
Jerrold "I don't know what I'm doing" Nadler.
Sheila "You owe me" Jackson Lee.
Ilhan "America Sucks" Omar.
Ayanna "Only blacks should regulate Blacks" Pressley.
Rashida "Palestine Rules" Tlaib.
Alexandria "We must Socialize and get rid of cows" Ocasio-Cortez.
Or any of the Dems that continually BITCH about "Illegal Immigrant treatment", and still haven't done anything more than Bitch about Illegal Immigrant problems ?
Those types are better ?
And you say Trumps folks are bad !
Really ?
So you've got nothing but contempt for a congressman who is investigating corruption.
Do you hear that? That high pitched whine? Try usng anything other than "But we hate Democrats" if you're trying to actually prove any supposed point.
Still nothing but pointless mischaracterizations. If you have something that proves he's done something wrong, please do share.
? You're basing your dislike of Steve on a silly meme?
Nadler knows what he's doing, he simply can't believe the amount of bullshit being flung by Trump aides and supporters and thinks, like most legal experts, that the Trump administrations use of some blanket executive privilege is total nonsense, because it is and the courts will eventually force these lawbreakers to testify
Just more patriotic Americans trying to do their jobs which is oversight of the executive branch, not capitulation as the Republicans have been cowed into.
“I refuse to give oxygen to people who suck out oxygen,” - Ilhan Omar
"We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice,” Pressley reportedly said during the event. “We don’t need any more black faces that don’t want to be a black voice". So totally not what you claim.
I'm not a big fan of any religion being injected into the secular laws of the United States, whether they be Muslim or Christian or any other flavor. Those Muslim congresswomen should keep their faith out of their politics, but so should every single Christian in congress as well. There is no difference between a Muslim legislator supporting a two state solution because of their faith and a Christian Zionist supporting a one State solution because they believe Armageddon requires Israel to be in control of the plains of Megiddo if their desired fantasy end of the world is to happen.
I doubt AOC has any clue as to what socialism actually is, most people don't. It's why the calls from a freshman congresswoman fall on deaf ears. The vast majority of Democrat legislators do not support anything even close to socialism, even when they use the word to describe some policies they support. If it's not the government taking over the production, distribution, and exchange of the capitalist free market, then it's not really socialism. Maybe it should be called "Fauxcialism" because all they are really advocating for are tax funded benefits produced, distributed and sold by the free market for certain levels of higher education and health care. Medicare for all does not get rid of private medical services, there will be no government employee doctors like they have in Britain.
Yes, all of them are better than the Republicans who have refused to do their job of oversight for fear from their sycophant loyal Trump fans who, as Trump said, would continue to support the orange clown even if he shot someone on the street. There is no soul, no backbone, no morality, no ethics left in the Republican legislature. They are nothing but suck ups trying to appease a large portion of Trumps base who are bitter bigots with no civics education so all they can do is whine and complain about a fantasy "deep state" and bitch about Obama being a secret gay Kenyan Muslim and his wife supposedly having a bigger dick than any of those sick weasels fantasizing about such things.
Good to know !
You like Mixed Nutz !
All you'll get from that one is the patented ItIsMe Shuffle.
It's like you think you know me !
Really!
All tRumps' folks are scum, just like him
I was talking about his cabinet and administration being scum for fucks' sake.
The litany of the Trump's Trumpisms hourly multiples exponentially. All of it in a simplistic nutshell---"Stormy who?"