The White House is scrambling to get Republican allies on the same page in deflecting what has become a serious issue that could lead to Donald Trump’s impeachment.
Shortly after the release of an explosive memo showing Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, the administration accidentally emailed its talking points on the scandal to House Democrats.
The talking points encouraged Trump’s political allies to argue that there was no direct quid pro quo conveyed in the memo and that the whistleblower complaint was handled “by the book”.
Here is the memo:
“The case just shows another example of the ‘Deep State’, the media, and the Democrats in Congress damaging our national security by leaking confidential information,” the memo recommends.
After realizing the error, the White House sent another email to House Democrats, this time requesting to “recall” the original message.
However, it was too late, and shortly after the mistake was made screenshots of the talking points quickly spread on social media, catching the interest of many, including Bernie Sanders:
The White House sent us their talking points around President Trump’s Ukraine call.
For some strange reason, they forgot to mention that Mr. Trump said, “I would like you to do us a favor though” after Zelensky brought up military aid. pic.twitter.com/60PMZ6aKcv
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 25, 2019
A majority of the House now backs impeachment proceedings against Trump, a significant milestone as Democrats move rapidly on an impeachment inquiry.
As of Wednesday night, 218 lawmakers have indicated support for impeachment proceedings — 217 Democrats and independent Rep. Justin Amash.