Donald Trump with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the United Nations, September 2019 (AFP/Getty)
In a plot twist in the Trump-Ukraine affair and Donald Trump’s impeachment, the White House has forced the removal of assistance to Kiev from a vital Goverment spending bill.
“Senior Trump administration officials” threatened a Trump veto, leading to a Government shutdown, if House Democrats refused to drop a provision for prompt release of future military aid for Ukraine.
The White House would have been required to release quickly $250 million in security assistance to Kiev.
“Five administration and Congressional officials” said the language was left out of the $1.4 trillion package, which passed the House and Senate this week and was signed by Trump on Friday night.
The bill faced a Friday night deadline to ensure continued funding of the Government.
Donald Trump has been impeached and faces trial in January for his pressure on Ukraine to investigate political rivals and to cover up Russia’s involvement in the 2016 US election. According to documents and 17 current and former US officials, Trump froze $391 million in security assistance to Kiev as he demanded the investigations.
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Trump suspended the aid days before a July 25 phone call with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The conversation led to a formal complaint, by the CIA liaison with the White House over Ukraine, which sparked House hearings and Wednesday’s vote to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The freeze was lifted on September 11, after Congress was formally notified of the complaint.
The House provision in the spending bill required the Office of Management and Budget to sign off on and release Pentagon funding for Ukraine within 45 days. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland said Trump would never approve the measure.
Ueland and other Administration officials insisted that they did not object because of Ukraine, but over the White House’s handling of funding streams that have been approved by Congress.
The White House also threatened a Trump veto over a provision for “apportionment letters”, from the OMB, to be made public. The OMB used one of the apportionment letters to carry out Trump’s freeze of the Ukraine aid.