Previously Unreleased Defense Dept. Email Confirms Trump Made 'Final Decision' on Withholding Ukrain
Previously Unreleased Defense Dept. Email Confirms Trump Made ‘Final Decision’ on Withholding Ukraine Aid
by Jerry Lambe | 12:17 pm, February 29th, 2020
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/previously-unreleased-defense-dept-email-confirms-trump-made-final-decision-on-withholding-ukraine-aid/
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An anti-corruption government watchdog group on Friday evening released a new batch of emails obtained from the Department of Defense which confirm that President Donald Trump made the “final decision” to withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine over the protests of his own cabinet advisors. The electronic communications were obtained by American Oversight in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) request regarding the administration’s decision-making process in the matter.
The latest batch of emails show one of the Defense Department’s top attorneys telling Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and then-National Security Adviser John Bolton had all advised President Trump to release the military aid to Ukraine, but the final decision was ultimately up to President Trump.
“Ma’am, I’ve learned that there is no ongoing interagency review process with respect to USAI [Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative],” DoD Principal Deputy General Counsel William S. Castle wrote.
“A DSG unanimously agreed that USAI should continue as planned; National Security Director Bolton and Secretaries Pompeo and Esper all concur. Final decision rests with POTUS.”
Eric Lipton
✔@EricLiptonNYT
· 22h
New EMAIL: FOIA release from DOD tonight to @weareoversight confirms that Pompeo, Esper and Bolton (as NYT reported in December) had all concluded by late Aug 2019 that Ukraine aid should be released. Yet Trump kept freeze in place.
Eric Lipton
✔@EricLiptonNYT
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