Just-released documents show the WH moved to stop Ukraine aid *2 hrs* after Zelinsky call

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

David Beard ✔ @dabeard

Just-released documents show the White House moved to stop vital military aid to #Ukraine less than two hours after his July 25 call with Ukraine’s President https://publicintegrity.org/national-security/digging-ukrainedocs-omb-foia/ … Here’s a White House memo to the Pentagon: #UkraineDocs



8:20 AM - Dec 21, 2019

[empedocles]

1. The plot thickens . . . and thickens

[The Blue Flower]

2. The truth will continue to make itself known

And to set the world free from this cancer.

[elias7]

3. It was a perfect call... followed by a warning shot

[GoCubsGo]

4. But, but, but...

The Gang of Putin and their cult followers say, "The Dems have no proof!!11!1!!1 Argle bargle!! Argle bargle!!!"

[moondust]

5. Good find.

I knew it was after the call on the same day but read somewhere that it was stopped "that evening." "Less than two hours" would seem to be more damning as it makes it more likely that the plot was hatched and ready to go before the call was made, awaiting a signal after he hung up. At that point Zelensky knew what was expected of him and the extortionists just had to wait and see if his announcement was convincing enough to please the boss and release the aid.



ETA: It's possible that Putin planned the whole thing.

[mopinko]

6. there's a whole nother level to this at the pentagon.

remember the name john rood.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212801719

[triron]

7. Good additional info.

[abqtommy]

8. And the hits just keep on coming here on White House Radio KLOWN!

[BadGimp]

9. yeah but

v

[Tiggeroshii]

10. Well there goes that talking point.

[malaise]

11. K & R

for truth

[mountain grammy]

12. And yet another smoking gun.

#IMPOTUS

[DallasNE]

13. Shows Why We Need The Full Transcript

Of the July 25, 2019 phone call rather than the summary that was released. And why witnesses are essential.

[Captain Zero]

14. Well if they make Schiff a witness he could walk in

And read this to them.

[Brother Buzz]

15. 91 minutes, Baby!

Updated Dec. 21, 2019

The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates betrayals of public trust. Sign up to receive our stories.

Late on Dec. 20, the Department of Justice sent a batch of documents to the Center for Public Integrity showing communications between the White House and the Pentagon regarding U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

The documents were delivered under court order after Public Integrity won a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Defense Department, seeking details on President Donald Trump’s delay of the aid after he pressed Ukraine’s prime minister to open investigations on the 2016 presidential election and former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

As was the case with a similar document dump Dec. 12, large swaths of the 146 pages Public Integrity received were blacked out. Nonetheless, the documents contained nuggets that shed light on the episode that led to Trump’s impeachment Dec. 18.

Two emails jumped out at us. A June 19 message from a White House Office of Management and Budget official queried the Pentagon’s chief financial officer about the aid. “The President has asked about this,” he wrote, including an article that had appeared that day in the Washington Examiner discussing the funds. That’s the first indication of the White House taking a focused interest in military aid to Ukraine.

And a July 25 email to the Pentagon from the same official shows how quickly OMB acted to block the aid – within 91 minutes – of the end of the now-infamous call between Trump and Ukraine’s Prime Minister Vlodymyr Zelensky that morning. The email, sent at 11:04 a.m., instructs the Pentagon to “please hold off on” distribution of the funds and says that “given the sensitive nature of the request” the information should be “closely held.”

Join in on Twitter using the hashtag #UkraineDocs to let us know if you find something we should look at more closely. Questions or tips? Email us at [e-mail].

You can read our main story with a summary of what was contained in the documents here.

https://publicintegrity.org/national-security/digging-ukrainedocs-omb-foia/

[DallasNE]

17. A Slight Misreading?

From memory, the military aid was already on hold. That means that had Zelensky given the expected response Trump was ready to restore the aid. Since he didn't get that response over the phone this email is actually saying to keep the hold in place, making this a much worse situation. The hold was later removed when the Whitehouse was notified a whistleblower had stepped forward and within 2 days the hold was lifted. But that was in September and it was too late for all of the aid to be delivered before the September 30th expiration of the fiscal year so $35 million was lost forever.

[Talitha]

16. No wonder impotus wanted an immediate Senate trial. n/t