Day 1,066: Evidence of Trump’s illegality in Ukraine scandal continues to roll in
Donald Trump was impeached for extorting Ukraine into doing him a political favor in return for needed military aid. He then obstructing Congress’s investigation into his actions, earning him a second article of impeachment. Trying to upend the 2020 election by creating a fake scandal regarding the Biden family, risking national security and harming U.S. democracy, Trump’s actions are one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.
And even with Trump already having been impeached on two counts, more evidence of Trump’s nefarious and illegal behavior continues to roll in.
Trump ordered a freeze on Ukraine’s aid about an hour and a half after his infamous phone call with the Ukrainian president where Trump asked for a favor according to documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.
A mere 91 minutes after the call that ended at 9:33 a.m., Michael Duffey, a political appointee at the Office of Management and Budget, sent an email to the deputy secretary of defense, David Norquist, the Acting Secretary of Defense Chief of Staff Eric Chewning, and a Pentagon comptroller, Elaine McCusker, telling them that all aid to Ukraine should be halted. “Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,” Duffey wrote at 11:04 a.m.
Duffy’s email begins “[b]ased on guidance I have received…” Obvious questions for him would be “from who?” and “why?” Yet the GOP — apparently hellbent on helping Trump continue the cover-up — has refused to entertain the idea of witnesses testifying at Trump’s impeachment trial.
Trump has laughably called the call “perfect” on a number of occasions, something even most Republicans haven’t been willing to say.
Trump held up congressionally-appropriated and national security aid to Ukraine, a U.S. ally. The reasons for the hold were confounding to many people in the White House and Congress. That hold started less than two hours after a July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart where Trump asked Ukraine to coordinate a personal political favor with his attorney, Rudy Giuliani. The transcript for that phone call was buried on high level servers that don’t ordinarily hold such conversations. A whistleblower eventually came forward to raise alarms about the aid being withheld and the reasons behind it. Only after the political firestorm was about to be revealed was the aid released.Trump was impeached for his actions.
The latest evidence helps put yet another piece in an already nearly complete puzzle together.
1,066 days in, 396 to go
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