Pentagon confirms that military aid for Ukraine frozen for political reasons

Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense, a Ukraine expert at the Pentagon, confirmed that she had information about intentions of President Trump’s Administration to freeze military aid for Ukraine in exchange for statements linked to investigations against the Bidens.
The U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on November 11 issued the relevant statement announcing a release of Laura Cooper’s Transcript as Part of Impeachment Inquiry.

“Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper testified that President Trump, through the Office of Management and Budget, directed the freeze on hundreds of millions of dollars of critical military aid for Ukraine, against the judgment of career officials in the Department of Defense, Department of State, and other relevant agencies,” the statement says.

Also, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense told the Committees that she raised concerns to senior U.S. government officials about “the legality of withholding the congressionally-authorized money, and the challenges that White House delays would put on spending it.”

“Cooper also testified that, during a meeting on August 20, 2019, with Ambassador Kurt Volker, he strongly implied that the hold on assistance might be resolved if Ukraine was willing to issue a statement related to election interference,” reads the statement.

A reminder that the House of Representatives in late September initiated an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, who allegedly put pressure on Ukraine to obtain personal political benefits in the US presidential election. The Committees, which are conducting the investigation, will move on to the public hearing phase this week.