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: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:39PM (3 children)
Essentially, if someone in the opposite party is involved in massive corruption, then fighting corruption (aka draining the swamp) will be attacked as political attack on democracy or some shit.
Obviously, the democrats, especially the previous administration, are deeply involved in corruption and bribery in the Ukraine, therefore that can never be investigated and the corruption can never be ended because it would be too political.
Kinda like the pedo stuff. Nobody can investigate or report on Epstein, especially not the press, because basically all kiddie touchers are Democrats so being anti-pedo is interfering with the election, so I guess we'll have to let them have their fun unimpeded. You're not being anti-pedo, you're merely being a Russian Agent if you point out all those pictures of Biden excessively touching very nervous looking young women, or point out that Clinton was best buddies with Epstein.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @03:56PM
For all the refusals to believe Trump's most obvious crimes you sure are quick to push opinions as verified hacks.
Conservatives these days, what a sad bunch of hypocrites. Fuck Biden and Fuck Trump. But fuck the racist VLM most of all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @04:53PM (1 child)
You could, but Epstein was a Jew, and all the media are owned by Jews. He was one of their own, in their families and social circles. The media heads do not want the American people to start making an association with being a Jew and committing sex crimes.
That most of these "elites" are democrats is probably secondary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @07:08PM
All the goat touchers are Republicans.