Mulvaney backers turn fire on White House counsel over 'bunker mentality'
by Steven Nelson
| October 18, 2019 07:10 PM
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Mick Mulvaney's stumble on impeachment messaging has his supporters turning fire on White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, who sources say is viewed within the White House as having a "shelter-in-place bunker mentality."
"There's an open feud between Pat and those who want to fight and defend the president in White House, and Mick is the face of it," a White House official told the Washington Examiner, defending the acting chief of staff.
Cipollone "is not the person you want to lead a political fight. He's a civil attorney without a political bone in his body," the official said. "The majority of people working in the White House who want to fight, who want to engage in pushing against the Democrats, have been frustrated."
Though Cipollone sent House Democrats an Oct. 8 letter refusing to cooperate with an impeachment inquiry, citing the lack of a floor vote to begin proceedings, his detractors in the White House say they view him as having then retreated into a metaphorical cave.
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