Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged Thursday that President Donald Trump held up a military-aid package to Ukraine in part because he wanted the Ukrainian government to investigate unfounded conspiracy theories related to the 2016 election.
Mulvaney said three factors drove the decision to withhold aid.He also said: “Did he also mention to me the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about it. But that’s it. That’s why we held up the money.”
Mulvaney’s statement is the first public acknowledgment from an administration official that Trump held up Ukraine’s security assistance in part for his own political gain.
Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff, publicly confirmed that part of the reason Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine was that he wanted the Ukrainian government to investigate a conspiracy theory related to the 2016 election.
Mulvaney acknowledged the quid pro quo during a press conference Thursday, in which he explained the factors that contributed to Trump’s decision to withhold aid.
Mulvaney said Trump told him that he believed Ukraine was a “corrupt place” and that he didn’t want to “send them a bunch of money.” He also said the president was concerned that other European countries weren’t doing their fair share to contribute to Ukraine’s defense.
Then, he added, “Did he also mention to me the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about it. But that’s it. That’s why we held up the money.”
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl immediately followed up and asked Mulvaney to confirm that “the demand for an investigation into the Democrats was part of the reason to withhold funding to Ukraine.”
Mulvaney replied affirmatively, saying, “The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing, and he was worried about corruption in that nation.”
(c) Business Insider
I don’t expect this guy to have a job much longer at the WH.
They withheld the aid for nearly 6 months, based on a conspiration theory about a server in Ukraine. Time for impeachment have been reached!
What annoys me in all this, foreign policy on Ukraine was put in charge of Giuliani. US foreign policy experts had to go through him. I think I would be pissed off if I had to go through a civilian who knows FA about any foreign policy.
You need to study up on this subject
Feb 28: Date that Trump Admin told Congress it would be releasing appropriated aid to Ukraine.
Sep 11: Trump releases the aid to Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/1184839796604186625
Itβs more misguided tripe and media assumptions. Unfounded? That is a judgment call by unqualified people. Presidents put conditions on aid all the time. Almost every aid package from Europe and the IMF had conditions to reduce corruption and this is no different. Besides that, it was the Democrats that most wanted to know what happened in 2016 and now they claim itβs unfounded?