White House Budget official says decision to delay aid to Ukraine was highly irregular
A longtime budget official testified Saturday that the White House decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine in mid-July was highly irregular and senior political appointees in the Office of Management and Budget were unable to provide an explanation for the delay, according to inviduals familiar with his testimony.
The testimony from Mark Sandy, the first employee of OMB to testify in the House impeachment probe, appeared to confirm Democrats’ contention that the decision to withhold nearly $400 million in congressionally-approved funds for Ukraine, including millions in lethal aid, was a political one.
Sandy, the deputy associate director for national security programs at OMB, testified that he was instructed to sign the first of several apportionment letters in which budget officials formally instituted the freeze on funds, according to two people familiar with his testimony who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly. He was never given a specific reason as to why the letter was being sent out, the people added.
Other witnesses have testified that the letter Sandy signed was dated July 25 — the same day that President Trump spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and one week after OMB verbally informed interagency officials that they were withholding the funds on orders from the White House. The signature of Sandy’s boss, political appointee Michael Duffey, appears on subsequent letters.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-budget-official-says-decision-to-delay-aid-to-ukraine-was-highly-irregular/ar-BBWRkPn?li=BBnbcA1
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