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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: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:49AM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:49AM (#919629)

    You could as well say that there are mechanisms in place to prevent the lawfully elected president from removing a recalcitrant partisan bureaucrat who refuses to obey an order that is politically unacceptable to that recalcitrant partisan bureaucrat.

    We all know how the bureaucrats vote. They have a conflict of interest, namely saving their own jobs, that ought to disqualify them from voting. They are obviously the sort of people who think government is the solution, not the problem.

    The MSPB is itself political. It is loaded up with democrats. Trump's nominees have been blocked. The lack of people slows the MSPB down, which is just dandy if you want to keep a recalcitrant partisan bureaucrat around. Trump nominated a chairman and vice chairman, as well as others, and the nominations are still being held up by uncooperative anti-American senators.

    It is simply improper that the choice of the American voters can be stopped by recalcitrant partisan bureaucrats. I doubt this is even constitutional, because if congress can enact a law to prevent the president from gaining control of his own staff then one branch of government has usurped the power of another.

    North Atlantic cod is a fine example. You may disagree with the will of the people, but they have spoken. Imagine what life would be like if the recalcitrant partisan bureaucrats were somehow all republican. They might disagree with you on the cod issue, and no democrat president could do a damn thing about it. Better examples perhaps: the recalcitrant partisan bureaucrats decide that no species is endangered, or that all guns beyond 0.50" caliber have a sporting use. You'd be pissed if the president couldn't stop that. You're just pleased because you know the recalcitrant partisan bureaucrats happen to be about 99% on your side.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @02:14AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @02:14AM (#919669)

    We all know how the bureaucrats vote. They have a conflict of interest, namely saving their own jobs, that ought to disqualify them from voting. They are obviously the sort of people who think government is the solution, not the problem.

    So, do I understand correctly that you would want our government "of, by, and for The People" to be replaced by mercenaries?!? Wow. Just. Wow.

    The MSPB is itself political. It is loaded up with democrats. Trump's nominees have been blocked.

    Do you have any evidence of this? Care to share it with us?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:40AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:40AM (#919698)

    one branch of government has usurped the power of another.

    Oh, you mean Trump taking funds specifically appropriated for one purpose and using them for another unrelated purpose?

    Or the Trump administration flouting duly issued congressional subpoenas?

    Yup. The Executive branch is certainly trying to usurp the powers of Congress.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:15AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:15AM (#919738)

      One thing you said is something I think everybody could agree with: the executive branch is, without doubt, usurping the powers of congress. And this has been happening for many decades now. The problem is that far from wanting to constrain the executive branch, when "our" party (whoever that may be) is in the executive branch, we're all more than happy to hoora on about every expansion of executive power, as if we will always be in power. The fact that presidents can now arbitrarily attack other nations, without so much as a peep from congress, is really really messed up. Bombs should require votes. Even the argument of urgency is week. Instead of simply bypassing congressional authority in case of "emergencies", give each senator an emergency "pager" type device that they're required to keep on their person. It emits a loud shrill noise upon activation. This device, in times of emergencies would signal an immediate remote vote and provide the text of the issue being voted on. Any vote not responded to within 10 minutes is considered an approval. There - no more need for "emergency" carve outs which invariably end up being used as little more than a means of sidestepping congressional authority.

      • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday November 13 2019, @08:58AM

        by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday November 13 2019, @08:58AM (#919768) Journal

        It is also part of the problem that Congresspeople are cowards. If a war turns out to be unpopular, they don't have to get their toes singed when voters start looking for feet to hold to the fire. It's all so convenient for them and so there is no real effort to end the ongoing Executive coup.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:00PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:00PM (#919946) Journal

        I think it more accurate to say that congress has been abdicating it's authority for decades. Prime example? WTF did we get all these presidential war powers acts? Next prime example? WTF haven't we had immigration reform since Operation Wetback? (Look it up, wikipedia has a page on it.) Congress routinely abdicates authorities and powers that it finds distasteful. Congress would only care if the president usurped congress' authority to vote itself a pay raise, or vote some tasty pork for themselves.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @05:28AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @05:28AM (#919724)

    Why do you hate America?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:06AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:06AM (#919734)

      When did you stop beating your wife?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:12AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:12AM (#919737)

        Never. I'm not married.

        Why do you hate America?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:02PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:02PM (#919947)

        I stopped beating my wife at the same time you became my bitch.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:26PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:26PM (#919859)

    The MSPB is itself political. It is loaded up with democrats. Trump's nominees have been blocked. The lack of people slows the MSPB down, which is just dandy if you want to keep a recalcitrant partisan bureaucrat around. Trump nominated a chairman and vice chairman, as well as others, and the nominations are still being held up by uncooperative anti-American senators.

    The MSPB currently has no members, because Mitch McConnell blocked all of Obama's nominees. So it's not loaded with anybody.

    The Senate is currently controlled by Republicans who are allies of Trump and would gladly approve members if Trump and/or Mitch McConnell actually wanted them approved. If you have a problem, it's with Mitch McConnell, not the Democrats.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.