Claiming to possess new emails released under the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA], Democrats say they have evidence that 73-year-old President Donald Trump withheld funds to Ukraine 90 minutes after ending his phone July 25 phone call with 40-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Armed with new information, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demands that Democrats be allowed to call new witnesses and get new documents at a Senate trial. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee contend that the new emails prove that the Trump withheld military funds 90 minutes after his call with Zelensky. Newly found emails show that Office of Management and Budget [OMB] Deputy Director Mike Duffey emailed Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, Chief of Staff to Defense Secretary Mike Esper.
Republicans led by 77-year-od Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 64-year-old Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) don’t care about the latest bombshell because they don’t believe Trump did anything impeachable. Democrats have made up their narrative that withholding funds allocated by Congress to a foreign country is a high-crime-and-misdemeanor. Republicans disagree with Democrats’ wishful thinking that withholding military aid to any foreign government constitutes an impeachable offense. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D-Del.) told the Council on Foreign Relations [CFR] Jan. 23. 2019 that he threatened to withhold funds to Ukraine unless he got chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin removed for investigating Burisma Holdings, Hunter’s Ukrainian employer. Hunter earned between $50,000 to $150,000 a month on Burisma’s board.
Democrats and their media friends refuse to release Biden’s CFR video talking about threatening to withhold Ukraine’s funding. On June 19 Duffey emailed Department of Defense [DoD] Comptroller Elaine McCustker asking her about the release of Ukrainian funding. “I have been tasked to follow-up with someone over there [DoD] to get more deails,” Duffey emailed McCusker. “Do you have any insight on the funding?” asked Duffey. Democrats content that Trump decided to withhold funding only 90 minutes after his July 25 phone call with Zelensky. But far from incriminating, Duffey’s email shows that Trump was concerned about releasing Ukriane’s funding in June, not just minutes after his July 25 phone call. Republicans contend Trump had every right as commander-in-chief to delay foreign aid, even with Congressional appropriations, if he suspected corruption.
When you drill down into the recently released FOIA] emails, it shows that Trump was concerned about releasing funds to a corrupt governments. Democrats accused Trump of endangering U.S. National Security withholding Ukraine’s military aid. Yet the Obama administration refused, even after Russian President Vlaidmir Putin’s March 1, 2014 invasion of Crimea, to give Ukraine lethal military aid. Whatever Ukraine planned to do with $391 million in military aid, it had zero impact on U.S. national security. If anything, former Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta worried that supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine would endanger U.S. national security. “What was the funding used for? . . . who funded it? What do other NATO members spend to support Urkaine,” asked Duffey in his emails to McCusker, getting information for Trump.
Far from a smoking gun, Duffey would testify that the president was concerned about forking over millions in lethal military aid to Ukraine, given Ukraine’s history of corruption. Duffey’s email shows that Trump concerns predated his July 25 phone call with Zelensky. It showed he was doing his due diligence before handing over millions in military aid. OMB chief Mark Sandy recalled telling the House Intelligence Committee that Trump had concerns about Ukraine funding. “I heard the president had seen a media report and he had questions about the assistance,” Sandy said, recalling that Duffey emailed his concerns June 19. If you listen to Democrats or members of the press the recently found emails incriminate Trump, rather that showing he had concerns about Ukraine funding well before his July 25 call with Zelensky.
When you look at the record carefully, National Security officials were concerned about a holdup in Ukraine’s funding July 18, a week before Trump’s call with Zelensky. Recently released emails between Duffey and McCusker show that Trump had concerns about releasing funds to Ukaine over a month before his phone call with Zelensky. If after talking to Zelensky he had greater concerns is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that the president’s concerns go back to June 19, not to 90 minutes after his July 25 phone call. House Democrats contend that Trump violated the Impound Control Act, requiring the White House to notify Congress with any changes in appropriated funding. Yet in writing articles of impeachment Dec. 17, Judiciary Committee Democrats do not charge Trump with any specific crimes. It’s becoming obvious, as Sen. Graham said Dec. 21, Democrats have gotten “cold feet.”
