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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
- Call:The White House memorandum (Sept. 25)
- Aid:The Pentagon letter on military aid to Ukraine (Sept. 25)
- Complaint:The whistleblower complaint (Sept. 26)
- Texts:Batch of texts between diplomats released by House Democrats (Oct. 4)
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
- Christopher Anderson, former special adviser for Ukraine negotiations
- Laura Cooper,deputy defense secretary
- Catherine Croft, former Ukraine adviser on the National Security Council
- Fiona Hill, former White House adviser on Russia
- George Kent, deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs
- Michael McKinley, former State Department adviser
- Gordon Sondland,U.S. ambassador to EU
- William Taylor, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
- Alexander Vindman, top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council
- Kurt Volker, former Ukraine envoy
- Marie Yovanovitch, ex-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:45AM (8 children)
The facts are already coming out and more will be forthcoming, not least with the public hearing tomorrow.
Your trollish feigned ignorance is so transparent. It would be humorous if it wasn't so tragic.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:52AM (7 children)
Yes, the facts are out. Only idiots or the ignorant still think there is something here. Listen to the propaganda and you will be wrong about everything. Fine by me, it is like free money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @04:16AM (5 children)
You mean this propaganda?
That Ukraine hacked the DNC and colluded with Clinton to harm Trump. [wikipedia.org]
Or that the "deep [wikipedia.org] state" [rationalwiki.org] is fomenting a coup against Trump?
Yeah. If you listen to that propaganda, you probably will be incredibly misinformed. Good call!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @04:36AM (4 children)
No, that is not what I meant. And like I said, I am not arguing or trying to convince you, it is good for me when people are kept thinking the world is different than it is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:46AM (3 children)
"...it is good for me when people are kept thinking the world is different than it is."
???? Are you actually admitting here that you are an operative posting propaganda?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:02PM (2 children)
Nope, I posted the facts. Someone responded "words are not facts"... Ok, I can almost assure you people like that are why I can double my money like every single year by trading.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @06:38PM (1 child)
The discussion was not about how you can double your money "like every single year by trading". It was about some facts very damaging to the President coming out in congressional hearings. In view of that, I'm going to stick with my original guess that you are a trolling Russian operative. How well are they paying you for this service, comrade?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @07:59PM
I listed the facts for you. They are totally contrary to the narrative in the post I responded to. Also I am watching these hearing and even the "star witness" is laughing his ass off about how farcical this is.
So once again, I am right and the people reading fake news are wrong.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @04:16AM
You mean this propaganda?
That Ukraine hacked the DNC and colluded with Clinton to harm Trump. [wikipedia.org]
Or that the "deep [wikipedia.org] state" [rationalwiki.org] is fomenting a coup against Trump?
Yeah. If you listen to that propaganda, you probably will be incredibly misinformed. Good call!