Pentagon confirms $35 million in aid still being withheld from Ukraine despite impeachment inquiry
The White House is still withholding some of the congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine that President Donald Trump froze over the summer, even as impeachment investigators scrutinize whether the commander-in-chief used the funds as leverage to pressure a foreign leader to commit publicly to investigations that would benefit him politically.
More than $35 million of the nearly $400 million in military aid that Trump had halted has not been released to Ukraine, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday, citing Pentagon spending documents it had obtained. Instead, the aid for Ukraine remains in U.S. accounts. The newspaper noted it is unclear why the money has not been released.
House Democrats are investigating allegations that Trump sought to leverage a potential White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and millions of dollars in military aid approved by Congress in an effort to pressure the Ukrainian leader to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, as well as a baseless conspiracy theory about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, confirmed to the LA Times that $35.2 million in aid had yet to be distributed to Ukraine but declined to provide an explanation for the delay. She said the money will be transmitted to Ukraine "over the next several weeks."
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/20/pentagon-confirms-35-million-in-aid-still-being-withheld-from-ukraine-despite-impeachment-inquiry/
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