Newly Released Emails Show Trump/Ukraine Coverup

Mother Jones reports:

Newly revealed communications between White House staffers and officials at the Pentagon are shedding additional light on the Ukraine scandal—even as the Senate prepares for President Donald Trump’s trial following his impeachment by the House of Representatives last month.

Just Security reported Thursday that Michael Duffey, a political appointee who oversees defense spending at the White House Office of Management and Budget, told Pentagon Comptroller Elaine McCusker in an August 30 email that he had “clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold” vital military aid that was supposed to be sent to Ukraine.

The emails obtained by Just Security also raise questions about Vice President Mike Pence’s role in Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to announce investigations of Trump’s political enemies.

The Washington Post reports:



On Aug. 12, with the hold being renewed, acting Defense Department comptroller Elaine McCusker offered proposed language for the hold to Duffey. It stated that “this additional pause in obligations may not preclude DOD’s timely execution of the final policy direction but that execution risk increases with continued delays.”

On Aug. 27, McCusker sent Duffey a draft letter that the Pentagon was preparing to send OMB. In the letter, the deputy defense secretary was to say, “As a result, we have repeatedly advised OMB officials that pauses beyond Aug. 19, 2019 jeopardize the Department’s ability to obligate USAI funding prudently and fully, consistent with the Impoundment Control Act.”