A debate erupted inside the White House over how to defeat the impeachment investigation led by Democrats.

The White House's divisive and fragmented response to the impeachment investigation is further polarized by a confrontation in the West Wing between two top advisers to President Donald Trump. The outcome of this controversy is likely to be fully disclosed, according to anonymous officials familiar with the matter.

White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has called on his aides not to comply with the impeachment investigation and prevent any cooperation with Democrats in parliament. Top officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where Mulvaney once led, also agreed with him.

OMB is considered the largest barrier of Mulvaney by the agency plays a key role in blocking 400 million USD of security aid for Ukraine in the last summer. OMB is currently headed by director Russell T. Vought. He is Mulvaney's close ally, once refusing to cooperate with impeachment investigations, like many other officials at OMB.

Mulvaney's office blamed White House adviser Pat Cipollone for not acting more aggressively to prevent government officials from participating in impeachment investigations, amid multiple State Department officials and an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence agreed to testify before congress, providing unfavorable testimony to Trump.

Cipollone, meanwhile, was enraged that Mulvaney exacerbated the situation by publicly admitting that the Trump administration had pressured Ukraine at a press conference on October 17.

Cipollone did not want Mulvaney to hold the press conference and conveyed his word to the White House chief of staff, two senior advisers to Trump. However, Mulvaney's aide said a team of White House lawyers helped him prepare for the press conference and had never told him not to do it.

Both Mulvaney and Cipollone have no experience managing the White House in the current chaotic period. Their actions partly show that the Trump administration is responding increasingly chaotic to the impeachment investigation, experts said.

Despite the seriousness of the incident, the White House took a long time to hire a problem-solving expert. Many Republican senators were worried and expressed concerns with the White House. "This will be the toughest political battle the White House has ever faced. They need to concentrate completely and point their guns outside, not towards each other," said Michael Steel, the party strategist. Republic, comment.

Mulvaney on November 8 sought to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Charles Kupperman, former deputy US national security adviser John Bolton, seeking a court ruling about whether he should comply with the subpoena. Congressional testimony or should respect the request not to testify from the Trump administration.

Mulvaney's actions may provide a legal basis for him to refuse to testify in the Trump impeachment investigation. But the move angered Bolton's allies, as Bolton and other national security aides regarded Mulvaney as the key voice forcing Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Former Vice President Biden is considered the biggest competitor to Trump on the race to the White House in 2020.

The White House has denied any internal dispute. "We are a team and we work well together. The stories of internal fighting are false and they need to stop," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

But Trump has recently complained about his legal team, saying they need to be more aggressive and protective of him.

At the same time, Trump also complained about Mulvaney, blaming the White House chief of staff for political problems, and has suggested replacing him, two unnamed officials said.

Another controversy between Mulvaney and Cipollone emerged regarding the possibility of hiring former Republican senator Trey Gowdy to join Trump's defense group before impeachment investigations. Trump is looking for enthusiastic supporters and Mulvaney approves of hiring his former colleague and longtime friend Gowdy.

But Cipollone protested and the opportunity for Gowdy to join Trump would likely not be realized because according to White House officials, lobbying rules could prevent him from doing this until early next year. Some Republicans were unhappy and accused Cipollone of settling the incident behind the scenes.

Government officials also complained that Cipollone did not allow Mulvaney and other White House agencies to participate in important decisions. Cipollone's office released a record of the telephone conversation between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart on July 25, despite Mulvaney's objections. Neither Mulvaney nor members of the White House press office were aware of this.

The intense fire between Mulvaney and Cipollone continued to be "fueled" when Mulvaney on October 17 held a brief press conference with White House reporters. During the press conference, he seemed to admit Trump had sought to block aid packages for Ukraine as a condition of a "reciprocal" agreement between the two sides.

Mulvaney said the administration did not provide security aid to Ukraine because President Trump wanted Ukraine to agree to conduct a corruption investigation first. Mulvaney then issued a statement confirming he had not confirmed any collusion deals and the reporters misinterpreted his words.

The internal divisions within the Trump administration are so severe that many Republican senators have expressed concern that the White House is not well-prepared for a impeachment trial in the Senate scheduled to be held in January. / 2020.

"This impeachment trial will take place before the White House knows it and they are not even ready to deal with it," said a Republican senator. "What they need most right now is that the leadership must be ready, but until Mulvaney and Cipollone dismiss all disagreements to work together, all they have is tweets."