Trump Withheld $391M In Aid Before Ukraine Call

The Washington Post reports:

President Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine at least a week before a phone call in which Trump is said to have pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden, according to three senior administration officials.

Officials at the Office of Management and Budget relayed Trump’s order to the State Department and the Pentagon during an interagency meeting in mid-July, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. They explained that the president had “concerns” and wanted to analyze whether the money needed to be spent.

Administration officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delays were part of an “interagency process” but to give them no additional information — a pattern that continued for nearly two months, until the White House released the funds on the night of Sept. 11.

Trump asked acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to put a hold on military aid to Ukraine roughly one week before Trump’s call with the Ukrainian President, senior admin official confirms to CNN.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 24, 2019

WSJ confirms: Trump asked Mick Mulvaney to place a hold on $391 million in military aid to Ukraine more than a week before his July phone call with the president of Ukraine in which Trump pressured him to investigate Biden’s son. https://t.co/1WgFQm1oFu

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 24, 2019

Confirming the WaPo scoop – Trump told Mulvaney to freeze nearly $400 mill in aid to Ukraine days before the July 25 call >> https://t.co/Ofr6k64Z2i

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 24, 2019

“John Bolton wanted to release the money to Ukraine because he thought it would help the country while curtailing Russian aggression…”
So State, Defense and NSC wanted to disburse the appropriated money. Blocked by OMB, i.e. Mulvaney, i.e. Trump. https://t.co/ccqmeV6YtS

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) September 24, 2019