How a
celebrated announcement quickly ended in disarray offers a rare public glimpse into the internal posturing — and undercutting of colleagues — that has been playing out in the West Wing on a daily basis since Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry last month. Even as the White House confronts a deepening threat to Mr. Trump’s presidency, it has struggled to decide how to respond, and who should lead that response.
This article is based on interviews with a half-dozen aides and other people close to Mr. Trump.
The official story, circulated by senior administration aides to a handful of reporters, was that Mr. Gowdy, who
retired from Congress last year, had agreed to re-enter the fray on Tuesday. Mr. Gowdy’s name began circulating on Twitter as the new Trump defender, prompting a number of aides to the president to claim credit privately for the idea of bringing him on board.
But by Wednesday evening, aides were distancing themselves from the bungled personnel maneuver, which was made public before all the usual procedural boxes had been checked. Several pointed fingers at Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, suggesting he had botched the rollout.
[...]
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers worked on a letter for Mr. Gowdy to sign to cement their agreement. Around 8 p.m. they released a statement announcing that Mr. Gowdy was formally on board.
“Trey’s command of the law is well known, and his service on Capitol Hill will be a great asset as a member of our team,” Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow said in the statement.
But within 30 minutes of that statement’s going public, Mr. Gowdy alerted Mr. Trump’s lawyers to a problem. His law firm, Nelson Mullins, had concerns that his work would involve lobbying activity. There was a discussion about whether Nelson Mullins could still be used, but a Trump adviser said that decision had been put off until January, when Mr. Gowdy’s lobbying ban concludes.
