According to leaked audio obtained by The Washington Post, CBS News co-president Neeraj Khemlani appeared to set the stage for the network’s highly criticized hiring of former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney by citing Republicans’ likely midterm victories. “If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms,” she told staffers of the network’s morning show this month. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.” A CBS News employee, following Tuesday’s official announcement that Mulvaney was a CBS contributor, told the Post that “everyone I talked to today was embarrassed about the hiring.” During his time with the Trump administration, which also included a stint as Office of Management and Budget director, Mulvaney initially downplayed the coronavirus pandemic as a media ploy “to bring down the president.” He also notoriously justified former President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine for political dirt, telling reporters to “get over it.”