Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is one of two names at the top of President Donald Trump's list to handle White House communications for the impeachment probe, a person familiar with the deliberations told Reuters Friday. He was speaking on condition of anonymity.
The news service reports that Bondi and former Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh are the top contenders for the job of coordinating the White House response and messaging on the Democratic-led impeachment effort in the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Trump has pressured Republicans to adopt a more robust defense in recent days after two of the president's recent decisions -- the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and the now-reversed move to hold a G7 summit at one of his Florida resorts -- drew criticism from members of his party," writes Reuters.
White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has been leading the search. There was no timetable given for an expected announcement.
The impeachment probe centers on Trump's request in a July 25 telephone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden, the former vice president who is a leading contender in a large Democratic field to of presidential hopefuls to face Trump in the 2020 election. U.S. election law does not allow candidates from accepting foreign help in an election.
On Thursday Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told a news briefing the White House is "working on getting a team together" to handle impeachment communications.
Graham referred to White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney: "I talked to chief of staff Mulvaney (about it)" he said.
Sunshine State News was unable to reach Bondi Friday.
