Top Pentagon official Laura Cooper, who oversees U.S. policy regarding Ukraine, told House impeachment investigators last month that President Donald Trump directed the relevant agencies to freeze aid to Ukraine over the summer,.
According to a transcript of her testimony released Monday before three House committees, Cooper testified that she and other Pentagon officials had answered questions about the Ukraine assistance in the middle of June. Cooper, according to the transcript of her testimony, described the hold as “unusual.” She said that she attended a meeting on July 23, where “this issue” of Trump’s “concerns about Ukraine and Ukraine security assistance” came up. She said the president’s concerns were conveyed by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
The freeze on military aid to Ukraine is a crucial part of the Democratic attempt to prove that the president sought a quid pro quo with Ukraine.
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