Mulvaney desperately wanted to erase the request to investigate the Bidens from the history of the pressure campaign. The attack on Trump's political opponent was front and center going back to Giuliani in May: “Somebody could say it’s improper." (1/6)
nytimes.com/2019/05/09/us/…
nytimes.com/2019/05/09/us/…
The text messages between Trump’s Ambassadors made clear that the former company associated with Trump’s political opponent was central to the pressure campaign—including “the deliverable” that Mulvaney mentioned today. (2/6) 
And of course there was the July 25th Trump call itself:
“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.” (3/6)
cnn.com/2019/09/25/pol…
“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.” (3/6)
cnn.com/2019/09/25/pol…
Rudy Giuliani copped to it. (4/6)
Trump: (5/6)
Q Mr. President, what exactly did you hope Zelensky would do about the Bidens after your phone call? Exactly.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I would think that, if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer.
Q Mr. President, what exactly did you hope Zelensky would do about the Bidens after your phone call? Exactly.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I would think that, if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer.
Mulvaney tried to cop to a lesser quid pro quo that didn't include an investigation into Trump's political opponent, but the record shows it was always at the center. Mulvaney's obfuscation actually makes one thing clear: they know just what an unprecedented abuse this was. (6/6)
