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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: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @04:10PM (1 child)
Oh deary dear... let's just deconstruct everything wrong with that post...
Nuremberg. 'Nuff said.
Nowhere near the truth. No career bureaucrat may violate the law just because the President has ordered it to be violated. Might as well say that he can order the Special Forces to piss on the enemy corpses and take their ears. (Hint... he can't).
There's a very strong question about exactly how much authority Trump and Mulvaney had to delay the Ukraine aid that was passed by Congress.
So you talked to every single voter, huh? Every one of them told you they didn't like the way Ukraine was being treated? Some other time we can talk about how the President's ability to make policy is directly limited by the legislature's authorization to execute it. (There was a wonderful time in America where the Executive branch carried out the collective will of the legislature. Pepperidge Farm remembers, anyway.)
Treason is not the word you think it is. Refusal to obey is at the most insubordination which can be serious, yes. Refusal to obey because one feels the law supports your position is the opposite of treason, so long as your governmental system is not an autocratic or despotic monarchy or dictatorship.
Unless you're saying Trump is legally a despot? You know that's the word you apply when you think someone in power is legally entitled to do anything they want and however they want, right?
OK. Run along and play now. Adults have serious adulting to do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @09:56PM
Trump's orders are both legal and in the best interest of America.
Disobedience is thus both illegal and against the best interest of America. It aids America's enemies. It is thus treason.
Your argument might have worked better under Obama, when some of the presidential orders were illegal (wiretap Trump, etc.) and when many of the presidential orders actively harmed America.