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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 12 2019, @09:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The view among the national security officials was unanimous: Military aid to Ukraine should not be stopped. But the White House's acting chief of staff thought otherwise.

That was the testimony of Laura Cooper, a Defense Department official, whose deposition was released Monday in the House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

"My sense is that all of the senior leaders of the US national security departments and agencies were all unified in their - in their view that this assistance was essential," she said. "And they were trying to find ways to engage the president on this."

Cooper's testimony was among several hundred pages of transcripts released Monday, along with those of State Department officials Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson.

Cooper told investigators that, in a series of July meetings at the White House, she came to understand that Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, was holding up the military aid for the US ally.

[...] When she and others tried to get an explanation, they found none.

[...] She said it was "unusual" to have congressional funds suddenly halted that way, and aides raised concerns about the legality of it. The Pentagon was "concerned" about the hold-up of funds and "any signal that we would send to Ukraine about a wavering in our commitment", she said.

Cooper told investigators that she was visited in August by Kurt Volker, the US special envoy to Ukraine, who explained there was a "statement" that the Ukraine government could make to get the security money flowing.

[...] "Somehow, an effort that he was engaged in to see if there was a statement that the government of Ukraine would make," said Cooper, an assistant defence secretary, "that would somehow disavow any interference in US elections and would commit to the prosecution of any individuals involved in election interference."

For a handy reference to the documents that have been released concerning this, npr has posted Trump Impeachment Inquiry: A Guide To Key People, Facts And Documents:

Written words are central to the Ukraine affair. The significance of the whistleblower's original complaint and the White House's record of its call with Ukraine are debated, but the text is public. Here are the documents to refer to as the inquiry proceeds:

Texts and memos

Enlarge this image

The whistleblower's complaint has largely been corroborated by witness testimony, public statements and media reports. See how the document checks out — with a detailed annotation of the text.

Testimony released by Congress following closed depositions


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:46PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:46PM (#919583)

    Oh, I see, so he's supposed to toe the party line, or federal agents will step in.

    You know, you people are only validating all those conspiracy theories about the "deep state" keeping order.

    All those texts and memos and testimony are pure smoke and mirrors to create something out of nothing. They are constructing a crime. And the accusers are fellow criminals.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Snow on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:53PM (1 child)

    by Snow (1601) on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:53PM (#919585) Journal

    No - He's supposed to not break the law.

    Why is that such a crazy idea?

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @11:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @11:52PM (#919608)

      No - He's supposed to not break the law.

      Well, none of them are, but people are only interested in half of them.

      And while all you are clutching your pearls, your national security officials just did another coup in Bolivia. Still easier to bring down other presidents. Score another one for the good guys, eh?