It’s an opinion piece that links to the New York times article which I would post but its paywalled. Even incognito mode isnt solving that issue. But let’s go over some key things…
As early as June, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney worked to execute the freeze for Trump, and a top aide to Mulvaney — Robert Blair — worried it would fuel the narrative that Trump was tacitly aiding Russia.
Internal opposition was more forceful than previously known. The Pentagon pushed for the money for months. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-national security adviser John Bolton privately urged Trump to understand that freezing the aid was not in our national interest .
Trump was unmoved, citing Ukraine’s “corruption.” We now know Trump actually wanted Ukraine to announce sham investigations absolving Russia of 2016 electoral sabotage and smearing potential 2020 opponent Joe Biden. The Times report reveals that top Trump officials did not think that ostensibly combating Ukrainian “corruption” (which wasn’t even Trump’s real aim) was in our interests.
Lawyers at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) worked to develop a far-fetched legal argument that Trump could exercise commander-in-chief authority to override Congress’ appropriation of the aid, to get around the law precluding Trump from freezing it.
Michael Duffey, a political appointee at OMB, tried to get the Pentagon to assume responsibility for getting the aid released, to deflect blame away from the White House for its own role in blocking it. This led a Pentagon official to pronounce herself “speechless.”
Duffey froze the aid with highly unusual bureaucratic tactics, refused to tell Pentagon officials why Trump wanted it withheld and instructed them to keep this “closely held.” (Some of this had already been reported.
So we all remember the line about how trump didnt know. And that was the talking point for a bit…well he knew. He always knew.
Or that there was no pressure…well there was pressure because he was on about corruption from the start.
As more and more info comes out it just looks worse for trump. Which is why mitch wanted a speedy trial. He knows what’s out there ready to come out.
This should just fuel Nancy to sit even longer on the impeachment. I’d cite this article. Now just imagine if Bolton, Pompeo, and mick testified…
This should matter and this should be another nail in the coffin of Trump*. But like most things with Trump* and many of his supporters, nothing matters.
Yes, when the NY times reported on Russian collusion it was all true, and CNN, and MSNBC. and according to Marsha Clarke OJ was guilty. who can you trust to give news or opinion?
Putin’s puppet. That’s why Trump was so adamant about withholding the Ukraine money, even though Mulvaney, Esper, Pompeo and Bolton urged him not to do it. He was listening to the BIG BOSS.
Every day I am hearing the same thing from multiple Democrats. If there are documents and witnesses that would exonerate him why are they holding them back? And every day the answer becomes more obvious. I just can’t understand why Trump supporters ignore what is really his mindset when he does this ■■■■■
Agreed. Think of it this way, Trump* decided he would rather be IMPEACHED than allow a few key people to testify under oath, which would have presumably exonerated him. Why this is overlooked or dismissed by many of his supporters is beyond me.
If you get stuck on a paywall on a major story/site, always try googling the headline + msn. Msn frequently buys the rights to major stories to post on their service.
It all matters to me and how I work is, I start with the largest and oldest problems first. Long before I get to this, there are matters that are far larger and more important to this country, that have not been dealt with. Now I know the NYT and many other lib sources would like to ignore and skip those matters and only concentrate on Trump. I hear the sheople bleeting the same things but not me. I want what Horowitz exposed…dealt with…correctly. Once Durham finishes investigating what Horowitz scratched the surface of, I can then move on to newer potential problems…and not until.