ABC News reporter Jon Karl asked White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest if he had coordinated his comments on impeachment with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, pointing out a suspiciously convenient DCCC fundraising drive arranged just hours after Earnest expressed concern about impeachment during his Friday briefing.
"Not that I'm aware of," Earnest replied.
First, Karl noted, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Friday morning he "would not discount the possibility" of impeachment. A little later the same day, Earnest also entertained questions about impeachment during the briefing. "And then within hours," Karl continued, "the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is putting out fundraising emails quoting what you said, with a red alert."
Karl also observed that this email campaign resulted in the most lucrative four days of fundraising this election cycle, with the DCCC raking in $2.1 million.
"So I’m just wondering," Karl pressed, "It seems, you know, Pfeiffer said something, you say something, then you have a fundraising drive--"
Earnest insisted his comments were simply "based on my own reading of the newspaper a couple days before I got asked the question."
Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) on Tuesday described the impeachment talk as "a scam started by Democrats at the White House."