A source familiar with discussions inside President Trump's legal team was baffled by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's performance today in the briefing room.
"It was not helpful," the source said.
The source questioned what Mulvaney was talking about when he tied the aid being held up for Ukraine to investigating the Democratic National Committee hack and the 2016 election.
Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow said the President's "legal team was not involved in the acting chief of staff's press briefing."
A source familiar with the reaction inside the President's legal team added: "I think people are a bit stunned."
A senior DOJ official, reacting to Mulvaney appearing to lump in the investigation by US Attorney John Durham into the origins of the Russia investigation with what Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine, tells CNN, “If the White House was withholding aid in regards to the cooperation of any investigation at the Department of Justice, that is news to us.”
Justice officials were confused and angry at the White House comments linking the Ukraine aid delay with Durham’s work.
Durham was spotted at the Justice Department headquarters today; he’s frequently in the building since Attorney General William Barr appointed him to review the 2016 election interference investigation.