Documents: Trump administration officially put hold on Ukraine aid same day as Trump call

[swag]

Source: CNN

(CNN)The Office of Management and Budget's first official action to withhold $250 million in Pentagon aid to Ukraine came on the evening of July 25, the same day President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone, according to a House Budget Committee summary of the office's documents.

That withholding letter, which was among documents provided to the committee, was signed by a career OMB official, the summary states. But the next month, OMB political appointee Michael Duffey signed letters taking over the decision to withhold both the Pentagon and State Department aid to Ukraine from the career official.

A hold was placed on the Ukraine aid at the beginning of July, and the agencies were notified at a July 18 meeting that it had been frozen at the direction of the White House, a week before the Trump-Zelensky call.

The career official who initially withheld the aid money was Mark Sandy, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/26/politics/ukraine-aid-trump-call-omb/index.html

[Richard D]

1. I'm sure it's just a strange coincident!

Not.

[Pachamama]

3. Yes, what a coincidink....

[UpInArms]

2. Sandy testified

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/first-official-from-omb-testifies-in-impeachment-inquiry

Mark Sandy on Saturday became the first White House official from the Office of Management and Budget -- the office that withheld military aid to Ukraine -- to testify in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. His closed-door deposition followed a week of public hearings before the House Intelligence Committee.

[usaf-vet]

4. Ok who in the hell is running this playbook. It sure as hell isn't the I.I.C. 'Idiot in Chief'.

Someone who understands the ins and outs of government operations is at the rudder. That person is in all likelihood, not a Trump hand-chosen individual otherwise none of these strategic dates would ever be met.

[Igel]

5. Same for media.

OMB's first action was 7/25. Not sure that's more than a coincidence.

The presidential hold was placed in early July.

Notification was given on 7/18. The hold was going to happen, unless it had been reversed. 7/24, 7/26, unclear why that makes a difference.

The take-away that's easy to get is that the order was given on the same day as the call. The article says otherwise, but what's focused is "the day of the call" and "OMB's first official action", so they have to be linked. Why? Because they're mentioned in the same narrative. It's not causality that's leading to the conclusion, it's conversational implicature.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. "Isn't that special?" Church Lady