Attorney of the White House did not take the lead on President Trump’s scathing letter to House Speaker Pelosi, in which he is accusing Democrats of “interfering in America’s elections” by pushing their impeachment efforts, The Hill reported.
The New York Times reported that the process for the letter was led by Eric Ueland, the director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, who was joined by policy adviser Stephen Miller and Michael Williams, an adviser to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone wasn’t involved in drafting the letter, the Times reported, while Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs tweeted Tuesday night that Cipollone was “aware” of the letter “from the beginning.”
An official told CNN that the White House counsel’s office had reviewed the letter but didn’t take the lead on it.
ABC News’s Katherine Faulders also tweeted that the counsel’s office put forth edits to the missive, while ABC’s Jonathan Karl reported that White House lawyers were largely cut out of the process.
“I am told White House lawyers were cut out of the process of drafting the President’s six-page letter to Pelosi. At the direction of the President, the letter was drafted by Eric Ueland, Stephen Miller, and Mulvaney aide Michael Williams. Cipollone saw it after it was drafted,” Jonathan Karl said.
“One person started a draft of Trump letter to Pelosi last week. Multiple aides were involved, including Stephen Miller, Eric Ueland, and Michael Williams. Pat Cipollone aware from the beginning. Trump contributed language/direction, but it was reviewed and re-reviewed, sources say,” Jennifer Jacobs said.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. Trump sent the letter Tuesday, the day before the House is scheduled to vote on whether to impeach him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. A majority of Democrats have signaled support for impeachment and it appears likely that Trump will be the third U.S. president to be impeached. He will not be kicked out off office unless two-thirds of the GOP-led Senate vote for his ouster in a subsequent trial. At least 20 Republicans would have to join Democrats in voting to remove him for this to occur.
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