据一名前白宫新闻秘书称，唐纳德·特朗普总统的代理参谋长米克·马尔瓦尼周四承认，政府用交换条件暂时停止对乌克兰的援助是一个重大失误。
“首先，那是地球上最红、最热的房间。除非你意识到你所说的每一句话的每一个含义，否则你不会登上讲台。乔治·布什的新闻秘书阿里·弗莱舍周五早上告诉福克斯新闻。
弗莱舍补充说，马尔瓦尼犯了一个“可怕的错误”，因为他说的话与总统和他的高级政府官员就与乌克兰有争议的交易所说的话形成了直接对比。
弗莱舍告诉福克斯新闻，“总统说没有交换条件，这正是他的幕僚长应该说的。”。
周四，在白宫罕见的新闻发布会上，记者要求马尔瓦尼解释特朗普政府为何决定暂时扣留今年早些时候对乌克兰的4亿美元军事援助。扣留这笔资金的命令是在特朗普7月25日与乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽兰斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)通电话的几天前发出的，在电话中，特朗普要求这位外国领导人帮他一个“忙”，并调查前副总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)及其儿子。
马尔瓦尼表示，该决定“与拜登毫无关系”，而是与2016年选举期间民主党全国委员会遭到黑客攻击的调查有关。美国广播公司新闻记者约翰·卡尔指出，这仍将被视为两位领导人之间的“交换”协议。
“我们在外交政策上一直这样做，”马尔瓦尼说，并补充说每个人都应该“克服它”
2019年10月17日，白宫代理参谋长米克·马尔瓦尼在华盛顿特区的白宫简报会上回答问题。马尔瓦尼在简报会上回答了一系列与唐纳德·特朗普总统弹劾调查有关的问题以及其他问题。他还承认，政府“一直”在外交政策上做“交换”交易。
白宫一再否认特朗普和泽兰斯基之间的任何交换交易。奥巴马政府还公布了两位领导人之间电话的粗略记录，显示特朗普在讨论对拜登夫妇可能进行的调查时从未明确使用“交换”一词。
穆万尼周四晚些时候被迫收回自己的言论，并发表了一份声明，其中他还指责媒体误解了他的言论，称其“推进了针对特朗普总统的带有偏见的政治迫害”
马尔瓦尼在书面声明中表示:“让我明确一点，乌克兰的军事援助和对2016年选举的任何调查之间绝对没有交换条件。”。他补充说，“我们持有这笔钱的唯一原因是担心缺乏其他国家的支持和腐败。”
FORMER WH PRESS SECRETARY TELLS FOX NEWS TRUMP'S ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF MADE A 'TERRIBLE MISTAKE' DURING PRESS BRIEFING
President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's admission Thursday that the administration used quid pro quo to temporarily withhold aid to Ukraine was a major flub, according to a former White House press secretary.
"First of all, that is the reddest, hottest room on Earth. You don't take that podium unless you are aware of every implication of every word and every sentence you say. He went too far," Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush's press secretary, told Fox News on Friday morning.
Fleischer added that Mulvaney made a "terrible mistake" because he was saying something that was in direct contrast to what the president and his senior administration officials have said regarding the controversial dealings with Ukraine.
"The President has said there's no quid pro quo and that's exactly what his Chief of Staff should have said," Fleischer told Fox News.
Mulvaney was asked by reporters during a rare White House press briefing on Thursday to explain why the Trump administration decided to temporarily withhold $400 million in military aid to Ukraine earlier this year. The order to withhold the funds was made days before Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump asked the foreign leader to do him a "favor" and investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
Mulvaney said the decision had "absolutely nothing to do with Biden" and instead was connected to an investigation of the hacking of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election. ABC News correspondent John Karl noted that would still be considered a "quid pro quo" agreement between the two leaders.
"We do that all the time with foreign policy," Mulvaney said, adding that everyone should "get over it."
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney answers questions during a briefing at the White House October 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Mulvaney answered a range of questions relating to the issues surrounding the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, and other issues during the briefing. He also admitted that the administration does "quid pro quo" deals in foreign policy "all the time."
The White House has repeatedly denied any quid pro quo deals between Trump and Zelensky. The administration also released a rough transcript of the phone call between the two leaders, which showed that Trump never explicitly used the term "quid pro quo" when discussing the possible investigation into the Bidens.
Mulvaney was forced to walk back his comments late Thursday and issued a statement in which he also blamed the media for misinterpreting his comments 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 in the written statement. He added that the "only reasons we were holding the money was because of concern about lack of support from other nations and concerns over corruption."
