White House finally goes ‘on offense’ over impeachment bringing in ‘czar’ to quarterback Donald Trump’s defense and new public face – who will NOT report to embattled chief of staff Mick Mulvaney
Two new White House hires will try to bring order to how the Trump administration handles impeachment going forward.
While House Democrats held their first public hearing Wednesday, waiting in the wings are Tony Sayegh, a former Treasury official, and Pam Bondi, Florida’s former attorney general.
The Washington Examiner reported that Sayegh will act as a ‘czar,’ while Bondi will be the public face – as neither official reports to embattled acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
Former Treasury official Tony Sayegh will play the role of impeachment ‘czar,’ coordinating efforts between various White House departments and Republican allies of President Trump
In addition to Sayegh, former Attorney General Pam Bondi will be the face of President Trump’s impeachment defense
Instead the two new players will report to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, the Examiner said.
Sayegh will work with the White House communications staff, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and his office and other administration officials.
He’ll be in charge of coordinating a strategy with the White House – and with President Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill.
‘Tony will be managing a lot of strategy,’ an administration official familiar with the plan told the Examiner.
For her part, Bondi will partner with Sayegh and be the media face of the effort.
‘Expect to see Pam on TV a lot,’ the source said.
Bondi’s legal background will come in handy as she tries to combat allegations made by House Democrats that Trump held up $400 million in military aid in Ukraine in a pressure campaign to get the country’s new leader to announce he was investigating Burisma – the company on which Joe Biden’s son Hunter sits on the board – and the origins of the 2016 Russia probe.
The two incoming hires will not report to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, according to reporting from the Washington Examiner
The president has pushed a conspiracy theory that the Democratic National Committee’s server was hacked by Ukrainians and not Russia, as American intelligence agencies have determined.
‘Pam and Tony are coming in to help the administration play office,’ the administration source told the website.
On the eve of Wednesday’s debut impeachment hearing, the two weren’t on staff yet, but Sayegh did meet with Capitol Hill aides this week.
‘This is the most optimistic I’ve felt since impeachment started in terms of internal morale,’ the source told the Examiner. ‘I feel like the addition of Tony and Pam gives us two energized reinforcements with the ability to focus exclusively on impeachment, which helps the team coalesce in a way that I expect to be highly effective.’