Posted on 11/27/2019 4:14:27 AM PST by Kaslin
Democrats are trying to impeach President Donald Trump for holding up military aid to Ukraine after Congress voted to provide it. Trump put a hold on the aid on July 18, and it wasn't released until Sept. 11. What the Dems and the media are not telling you is that Trump also delayed aid to Pakistan, Gaza, three central American countries and 10 aid projects involving Europe or the United Nations around the same time.
A senior Office of Management and Budget official says reporters consistently ignore Trump's broad strategy of getting America's allies, including NATO countries like Germany, to pay their fair share for foreign defense. Trump was looking ahead to a meeting of these countries on Aug. 24-27, when he held up the aid to Ukraine.
As a candidate, Trump pledged to "stop sending aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools." Most Americans agree with that. Foreign aid is the least popular use of taxpayers' dollars. In 2018 and again this year, after Congress voted for aid, Trump tried to reduce it by billions. That outraged Dems and even some Republicans. "This administration's contempt for Congress is astounding," objected Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. No, Rep. Engel. Truth is, Congress' contempt for the American public is what's astounding. Most Americans would rather see that $400 million in Ukrainian aid spent instead on urgent needs here at home.
On Sunday, the media unveiled internal White House emails they claim show chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and officials at OMB try to "reverse-engineer" a legal justification for holding up the Ukrainian money. That's nonsense. Once Congress votes to spend money on foreign aid, the executive branch is obligated to release it. However, the president has substantial discretion as to timing, and delays are routine. The president also is obligated to stop aid if there's evidence the money would fall into corrupt hands.
That was a concern with money destined for Ukraine. When Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., spoke to Trump on Aug. 31 to find out why the aid was delayed, Trump explained that money sent there tended to end up in secret bank accounts, and that NATO wasn't doing its part, making Americans the "schmucks" stuck with the bill.
Good luck trying to convince the American public that delaying the aid endangered American security, as Democrats try to claim. Russian incursions into Ukraine are more a threat to Europe than to America, but NATO countries won't pony up. The U.S. picks up 70% of the NATO defense budget.
Meanwhile, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is guilty of his own delay. He's holding back the testimony of Mark Sandy, a senior OMB official who testified a week and a half ago about why the Ukrainian aid was held up. The testimonies of all other closed-door witnesses except one have been released. Congressman Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., who heard Sandy's testimony, says it "went right to the heart of why there was a hold on aid to Ukraine." So release the testimony, Mr. Schiff.
Schiff brought in a parade of career diplomats to testify how urgently the Ukrainians needed aid. These U.S. diplomats attested to their devotion to Ukraine. Sorry, but it's nauseating. Truth is, diplomats stationed in a country like Ukraine want aid because it makes them bigshots who deliver checks and get the best seats at official functions. It elevates them at cocktail parties.
The media are piling on claims the aid delay caused deaths. A Los Angeles Times story -- "Trump froze military aid -- as Ukrainian soldiers perished in battle" -- portrays a Ukrainian widow at her military husband's grave. Don't fall for it. Defense Secretary Mark Esper stated on Friday that the delay had no impact on Ukraine's defense.
Ukraine has had 25 battle fatalities since last July, when the aid was held up. That's a small fraction of the shooting deaths in Chicago during the same time. Think of the good the aid could do for policing and schools right here at home.
Obviously Eliot has forgotten Baraq Soetoro's statement that if Congress didn't implement his agenda he would go around Congress and write laws on his own. Eliot was okay with that.
But Trump did adopt Ukraine first, Kurd (a myth produced by MSM in Obama era) first policies in 2018.
If Trump is in “ contempt of Congress” it shows how attuned he is to popular sentiment
Excellent article...all of her points are clear and utterly demanding of the Dems’ little stunt. I was interested in the fact that they are not releasing the testimony of the OMB official, Mark Sandy.
They want to impeach him *because* he puts America first. The left hates that.
Senator Ron Johnson Must Recuse Himself From Trump’s Impeachment Trial
Nov 18 2019
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) responded to a request from Representatives Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence respectively, to share his firsthand knowledge about the U.S.-Ukraine relationship as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment proceedings.
Snip
At the suggestion of Sondland, the delegation (Perry, Volker, Sondland and me) proposed a meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. The purpose of the meeting was to brief the president on what we learned at the inauguration, and convey our impressions of Zelensky and the current political climate in Ukraine. The delegation uniformly was impressed with Zelensky, understood the difficult challenges he faced, and went into the meeting hoping to obtain President Trump’s strong support for Zelensky and the people of Ukraine. Our specific goals were to obtain a commitment from President Trump to invite Zelensky to meet in the Oval Office, to appoint a U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who would have strong bipartisan support, and to have President Trump publicly voice his support.
Our Oval Office meeting took place on May 23. The four members of the delegation sat lined up in front of President Trump’s desk. Because we were all directly facing the president, I do not know who else was in attendance sitting or standing behind us. I can’t speak for the others, but I was very surprised by President Trump’s reaction to our report and requests.
He expressed strong reservations about supporting Ukraine. He made it crystal clear that he viewed Ukraine as a thoroughly corrupt country both generally and, specifically, regarding rumored meddling in the 2016 election. Volker summed up this attitude in his testimony by quoting the president as saying, “They are all corrupt. They are all terrible people. … I don’t want to spend any time with that.” I do not recall President Trump ever explicitly mentioning the names Burisma or Biden, but it was obvious he was aware of rumors that corrupt actors in Ukraine might have played a part in helping create the false Russia collusion narrative.
Of the four-person delegation, I was the only one who did not work for the president. As a result, I was in a better position to push back on the president’s viewpoint and attempt to persuade him to change it. I acknowledged that he was correct regarding endemic corruption. I said that we weren’t asking him to support corrupt oligarchs and politicians but to support the Ukrainian people who had given Zelensky a strong mandate to fight corruption. I also made the point that he and Zelensky had much in common. Both were complete outsiders who face strong resistance from entrenched interests both within and outside government. Zelensky would need much help in fulfilling his mandate, and America’s support was crucial.
It was obvious that his viewpoint and reservations were strongly held, and that we would have a significant sales job ahead of us getting him to change his mind. I specifically asked him to keep his viewpoint and reservations private and not to express them publicly until he had a chance to meet Zelensky. He agreed to do so, but he also added that he wanted Zelensky to know exactly how he felt about the corruption in Ukraine prior to any future meeting. I used that directive in my Sept. 5 meeting with Zelensky in Ukraine.
One final point regarding the May 23 meeting: I am aware that Sondland has testified that President Trump also directed the delegation to work with Rudy Giuliani. I have no recollection of the president saying that during the meeting. It is entirely possible he did, but because I do not work for the president, if made, that comment simply did not register with me. I also remember Sondland staying behind to talk to the president as the rest of the delegation left the Oval Office.
I continued to meet in my Senate office with representatives from Ukraine: on June 13 with members of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee; on July 11 with Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. and secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Danyliuk; and again on July 31 with Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Valeriy Chaly. At no time during those meetings did anyone from Ukraine raise the issue of the withholding of military aid or express concerns regarding pressure being applied by the president or his administration.
Snip
On Sept. 11, the administration announced that the hold had been lifted. I think it is important to note the hold was lifted only 14 days after its existence became publicly known, and 55 days after the hold apparently had been placed.
Snip
https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0A971750-8B01-4C35-AF3B-E6E0133A8C92
Senator Ron Johnson Must Recuse Himself From Trump’s Impeachment Trial
How can the Wisconsin senator be both a witness and a juror?
NOVEMBER 21, 2019
https://www.thenation.com/article/ron-johnson-recuse-impeachment/
Thanks for posting this article. Trump loves America Democrats not so much.
Trump jumped on the anti-Russia bandwagon to pander to Russophobia lowlifes in GOP and Europe.
Did he really believe that he could get political gain by supporting Ukrainian Russophobia regimes?
Put another way: I like this President; he fights!
And spending money not allocated
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