The White House’s chaotic infighting over its impeachment strategy has mostly subsided, replaced by casting and choreography decisions designed to guide the U.S. president through a quick trial with the least drama possible.
It’s a sharp shift from the widespread confusion and constant jockeying for influence that dominated the early march toward impeachment this fall. Now, White House officials have settled into specific roles just in time to roll from an expected House impeachment vote this week to a Senate trial in January.
Apart from U.S. President Donald Trump, the chief impeachment strategist is Pat Cipollone, the White House’s top attorney. During his one year in the position, he’s managed to maintain an excellent relationship with the president — unlike his predecessor, Don McGahn — and has morphed into the primary architect of the White House strategy, so much so that he is expected to act as the lead counsel during the Senate proceedings.
“The White House counsel is playing the lead role because of the nature of all of it and the two articles of impeachment,” said a person familiar with the White House planning. “It only makes sense because he needs to defend the institution of the presidency.”
While the full House of Representatives is waiting to vote on the two articles of impeachment as early as Wednesday, the attention of top White House aides has already shifted to the Senate trial. Both Trump and his aides predict a more favorable process in the Republican-controlled chamber.
Even as White House officials find their spots in the impeachment lineup, several current and former administration officials cautioned that Trump as always remains the one to dictate the message and ideas.
“At this point, the House process is what it is,” a senior administration official said. “We’ve answered all of the House letters. The Senate trial has definitely become the focus.”
That Senate trial gives White House aides the opportunity to show the president they can work in lockstep and not become consumed by the frequent tripwires of working in the West Wing, including constant machinations over personnel and power grabs.
Both White House and Senate aides have been closely studying the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton as an example of how to model this Senate trial, even if the charges against the two presidents remain wildly different. Clinton faced impeachment for lying about his sexual relationship with a White House intern, while Trump embroiled himself in his own impeachment scandal by asking a foreign leader to investigate a political rival ahead of his 2020 reelection campaign.
Senate leadership still needs to set the exact parameters, rules and length of the trial, though people familiar with the planning say the trial likely will not include any witnesses. If that is the case, the Senate trial would kick off with opening arguments before each side would make their case.
“The White House is lucky to have somebody who has a very good, experienced track record, and memory for a number of fights which seemed obscure at the time but that now have become relevant,” says Dave Hoppe, chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, about Eric Ueland | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
“We did nothing wrong. So, I’ll do long, or short. I’ve heard Mitch. I’ve heard Lindsey. I think they are very much in agreement on some concept,” Trump said Friday, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Senate ally Lindsey Graham, when asked about the structure and length of a Senate trial. “I’ll do whatever they want to do. It doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t mind the long process, because I’d like to see the whistleblower, who’s a fraud.”
In recent weeks, Trump has told allies and friends that he wanted a splashy Senate trial with high-profile attorneys and witnesses such as Hunter Biden, son of Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.
But McConnell has been urging Trump to instead settle on a short trial; brevity allows the Senate greater control over the narrative without the unpredictability witness testimony can bring.
“Look, it is the U.S. Senate. It will never be that flashy,” said a Republican close to the White House.
In recent weeks, Cipollone has made several trips to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican senators over lunch, or with McConnell to chart the impeachment strategy. He also frequently speaks with the group of senators who also are lawyers such as Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who once clerked for Alito when he served on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Aiding Cipollone’s outreach to Capitol Hill is the White House director of legislative affairs, Eric Ueland, a longtime veteran of Senate leadership and the former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee who’s known for his mastery of arcane Senate rules and procedures.
“The White House is lucky to have somebody who has a very good, experienced track record, and memory for a number of fights which seemed obscure at the time but that now have become relevant,” said Dave Hoppe, chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
“Eric was a senior staffer among Republican leadership staff when we were doing impeachment 21 years ago.”
“Everyone has resigned themselves to the idea that the president is always running everything,” — a former senior administration official
During the Clinton impeachment, Ueland served as a senior staffer to Sen. Don Nickles, who at the time was the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, and was part of a tiny group of staffers allowed to sit and work on the Senate floor, giving access to the country’s last impeachment trial.
“He has seen it done before,” Hoppe said even if the players and charges are now different.
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney remains involved in the impeachment proceedings and attends impeachment meetings, even if Cipollone is taking the lead among staff on strategy. One senior administration official described Mulvaney’s role as convening allies and aides when needed, such as bringing lawmakers to Camp David in recent months in an effort to keep the Republican Party unified.
Jared Kushner, as one of the president’s most trusted aides, remains involved in impeachment when needed, according to two senior administration officials, alongside with his work in negotiating the U.S-Mexico-Canada trade deal, China trade deal, Middle East plan and running the 2020 campaign.
As the White House press secretary and communications director, Stephanie Grisham is overseeing the communications effort. She’s being helped temporarily by Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General, and Tony Sayegh, a former top Treasury official and ally of Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Both Bondi and Sayegh have visited Capitol Hill several times in recent weeks to meet with Senate and House communicators to keep the White House and congressional messages in sync.
Even as White House officials find their spots in the impeachment lineup, several current and former administration officials cautioned that Trump as always remains the one to dictate the message and ideas.
“Everyone has resigned themselves to the idea that the president is always running everything,” said a former senior administration official.