My Father Told Me to Pretend We’d Never Met at the White House—Then General Vance Announced I Oversaw His Defense Contract Review

“You stepped away.”

“Yes.”

“You could have stayed.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I looked at his March 9 request.

“Because I wanted the review to belong to the process.”

Then I added:

“And not to me.”

Silence.

Vance finally said:

“General Mercer did not interfere with the review because she chose not to.”

Arthur looked down.

The chair asked whether Mercer Defense Tech had any final procedural objection.

Arthur pushed the binder toward the center of the table.

“No objection.”

That was the end of my involvement.

Not the end of Mercer’s review.