福克斯新闻主播克里斯华莱士(Chris Wallace)就唐纳德特朗普(Donald Trump)代理参谋长米克马尔瓦尼(Mick Mulvaney)上周发表的有争议的声明与他进行了对质，他在声明中表示，白宫拒绝向乌克兰提供军事援助，以迫使该国对一项被揭穿的有关民主党的阴谋论展开调查。

“你说过调查民主党是交换条件的一部分，”华莱士对马尔瓦尼说在他的周末秀上 福克斯周日新闻。“你还说，如果可以的话，这是司法部调查俄罗斯调查起源的一部分。

福克斯新闻主播继续说道:“但事实是，不仅媒体认为你说了，还有——一份由司法部高级官员发布的声明”。

这位官员在声明中表示:“如果白宫拒绝对司法部的任何调查提供援助，那对我们来说就是新闻”。

华莱士声称，“每个人都认为”马尔瓦尼说军事援助被扣留是为了迫使乌克兰调查总统的政治对手。“你刚才说的是三点，不是两点，”记者指出。

然而，马尔瓦尼坚持说他的话被误解了。“我从未使用过那种语言，因为没有‘交换条件’"

但华莱士插话说，他指出，一名记者直接告诉他，他刚刚在上周的新闻发布会上描述了一个“交换条件”。“你说过:‘这种事经常发生。’"

“记者们会一直使用他们的语言，”马尔瓦尼回击道。“我的语言从未使用‘交换条件’"

在随后的采访中，华莱士问穆万尼，在上周的新闻发布会后，他是否曾向特朗普提出或讨论过他的辞职。“绝对，肯定不是，”白宫官员回答道。

马尔瓦尼告诉记者周四，特朗普“绝对”提到“与DNC服务器相关的腐败”与乌克兰军事援助有关。“这就是为什么我们拿着钱，”他说。

“回顾2016年发生的事情当然是事情的一部分，[·特朗普]担心那个国家的腐败，”他在一个后续问题后补充道。

当被记者追问时，他指出这是一个交换条件，马尔瓦尼沮丧地回应。"我们在外交政策上一直这样做。"他还认为，被外交政策中的政治影响弄得心烦意乱的人应该“忘掉它”。

特朗普官员的声明似乎飞在脸上关键的共和党谈话要点是，特朗普努力向乌克兰官员施压，要求他们调查他的政治对手，这没有任何回报。对乌克兰的军事援助得到了两党的广泛支持，近4亿美元的资金被立法者、五角大楼和情报机构批准。然而，特朗普和他的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼敦促乌克兰调查被揭穿的指控，即民主党人在2016年选举中与乌尔凯人合谋使特朗普非法化，并对针对民主党总统候选人乔·拜登的未经证实的指控展开调查。

5月13日，白宫代理参谋长米克·马尔瓦尼在华盛顿特区白宫椭圆形办公室

穆万尼周四对媒体发表言论几小时后，他发表了一份与此前言论相矛盾的新声明。

“媒体又一次决定曲解我的言论，对特朗普总统进行有偏见的政治迫害，”他说。“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。总统从未告诉我在乌克兰人做任何与[域名服务器相关的事情之前不要扣发任何钱。”

马尔瓦尼发表评论后，一些共和党人对特朗普对乌卡因的行为提出了进一步的担忧。

伊利诺伊州共和党众议员亚当·金辛格说:“这非常令人担忧，我想我们会得到更多的信息，因为我们看到这种情况正在迅速发生。”周五告诉美国有线电视新闻网。"我不知道他为什么要说他说的话。"

佛罗里达州共和党众议员弗朗西斯·鲁尼说，“以前可能是灰色和不清楚的东西现在肯定是清楚的。”

俄亥俄州前两届共和党州长约翰·卡西奇公开呼吁弹劾总统。“很明显，现在已经越界了。这是滥用权力。“卡西奇，必须采取行动发布到推特上。

最近的民意测验姓氏和皮尤研究已经表明，大多数美国人——略高于50%——支持民主党领导的对特朗普的弹劾调查。

 

FOX NEWS ANCHOR CONFRONTS TRUMP OFFICIAL MULVANEY OVER 'QUID PRO QUO' REMARKS: 'THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID'

 

 

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace confronted President Donald Trump's acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney over his controversial statements last week, in which he said that the White House withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to open an investigation into a debunked conspiracy theory regarding Democrats.

"You had talked about investigating the Democrats was part of the quid pro quo," Wallace said to Mulvaney on his weekend show Fox News Sunday. "You also said, if I may, it was part of the Justice Department investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

"But the fact is, not only did the press think you said it, here's what–a statement that was put out by a senior Justice Department official," the Fox News anchor continued, putting the statement on the screen.

"If the White House was withholding aid in regards to the cooperation with any investigation at the Department of Justice, that is news to us," the official's statement said.

Wallace asserted that "everybody thinks" Mulvaney stated that the military aid was being withheld to pressure Ukraine to investigate the president's political opponents. "You said right there, three points, not two," the journalist pointed out.

Mulvaney insisted, however, that his words were being misconstrued. "I never used that language because there is not a 'quid pro quo.'"

But Wallace interjected, pointing out that he was directly told by a journalist that he had just described a "quid pro quo" during a press conference last week. "You said: 'that happens all the time.'"

"Reporters will use their language all the time," Mulvaney shot back. "My language never used 'quid pro quo.'"

Later in the interview, Wallace asked Mulvaney if he had ever offered or discussed his resignation with Trump after the press conference last week. "Absolutely, positively not," the White House official replied.

Mulvaney told reporters on Thursday that Trump had "absolutely" mentioned "the corruption related to the DNC server" in relation to Ukraine military aid. "That's why we held up the money," he said.

"The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing, and he [Trump] was worried about corruption in that nation," he added after a follow-up question.

When pressed by a reporter, who pointed out that this was a quid pro quo, Mulvaney responded with frustration. "We do that all that time with foreign policy." He also argued that people upset by political influence in foreign policy should "get over it."

The Trump official's statement appeared to fly in the face of a key Republican talking point, that there was no quid pro quo related to Trump's efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rivals. Military aid to Ukraine enjoys widespread bipartisan support, and the nearly $400 million in funding was cleared by lawmakers, as well as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. However, the White House held up the money as Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani urged Ukraine to investigate debunked claims that Democrats conspired with Urkainians to delegitimize Trump during the 2016 election, as well as to open a probe into unsubstantiated allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in the Oval Office of the White House on May 13 in Washington, D.C.

Hours after Mulvaney's remarks to the press on Thursday, he released a new statement contradicting his previous remarks.

"Once again, the media has decided to misconstrue my comments to advance a biased and political witch hunt against President Trump," he said. "Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election. The president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the [DNC-connected] server."

Some Republicans have raised further concerns about Trump's actions toward Ukaine after Mulvaney's comments.

"It's quite concerning, and I think we're going to get more information as we're seeing this happen rapidly," GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois told CNN on Friday. "I have no idea why he said what he said."

Republican Representative Francis Rooney of Florida said "whatever might have been gray and unclear before is certainly clear right now."

And John Kasich, the former two-term Republican governor of Ohio, openly called for the president's impeachment. "It's clear now that a line was crossed. This is an abuse of power. Action must be taken," Kasich posted to Twitter.

Recent polls by Gallup and Pew Research have shown that the majority of Americans–just over 50 percent–support the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against Trump.