Your argument falls apart when Zelensky had 5 meetings with US reps and never asked once about the US aid.
The democrats cannot connect the dots that the Ukraine knew that the aid was being delayed, if so why not make the announcement about an investigation into Burisma?
Don't call Zelensky a liar, he said multiple times that he felt no pressure to do anything.
“We had this information. It was definitely mentioned there were some issues,” Olena Zerkal
told The New York Times in a report published Tuesday.
House investigators are probing allegations that Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid in an effort to persuade Ukraine to announce politically beneficial investigations. Trump and Republican lawmakers have questioned the accusations, claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky couldn’t have felt pressured because he wasn’t aware of a freeze in security aid.
Zerkal’s account is matched by Laura Cooper, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia and Ukraine who testified before the House Intelligence Committee in November. In her testimony, Cooper said that her staff received emails on July 25 in which the State Department said the Ukrainian Embassy and House Foreign Affairs Committee were “asking about security assistance.”
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It isn't often that a Trumper proves my point in the very first reply. So, thanks. You're making this easy.
for your information, the president has that authority. to hold money. It's within his job description. you know that right? Let's see how far left you run.
If any prez is not going to disperse funds authorized by Congress the admin must notify Congress.
Trump’s Hold on Ukrainian Military Aid was Illegal
Trump’s Hold on Ukrainian Military Aid was Illegal
BTW, your false assertion does not address the thrust of my original post. Anything else?
bush didn't Clinton didn't and neither did obammy, you seem to be confused.
Prove it.
"There are two relevant budgetary statutes that are implicated by Trump withholding military aid for Ukraine: apportionment authority and the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). Both laws are intended to restrict the executive branch from undermining Congress’s “power of the purse” under the Constitution.
The Ukraine funding was held up through use of OMB’s apportionment authority.
Apportionments are legally binding documents utilized by OMB to ensure agencies spend money effectively and efficiently during the fiscal year. Agencies are prohibited from spending in excess of an apportionment. Under
longstanding guidance, apportionments are approved by OMB career officials.
Apportionments cannot change policy decisions reflected in statute; the Government Accountability Office has made clear
that “the apportionment process cannot alter or otherwise affect the operation of statutory requirements concerning the availability or use of appropriated funds.”
In addition, any delay of funding potentially implicates the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). Passed in the wake of President Richard Nixon’s refusal to spend lawfully appropriated funding, the ICA restricts the circumstances in which a president can defer spending funds. The ICA’s definition of a “deferral” is
broad:
“deferral of budget authority” includes—
(A) withholding or delaying the obligation or expenditure of budget authority (whether by establishing reserves or otherwise) provided for projects or activities; or
(B) any other type of Executive action or inaction which effectively precludes the obligation or expenditure of budget authority, including authority to obligate by contract in advance of appropriations as specifically authorized by law;
Under the ICA, a deferral is only allowable in a
few limited circumstances:
Deferrals shall be permissible only—
(1) to provide for contingencies;
(2) to achieve savings made possible by or through changes in requirements or greater efficiency of operations; or
(3) as specifically provided by law.
No officer or employee of the United States may defer any budget authority for any other purpose.
Trump’s Funding Hold was Illegal
OMB’s hold on military aid was an abuse of its apportionment authority and constituted an illegal deferral. While the Trump administration was well aware of the legal issues with its actions, it ignored them and held up the funding anyway.
During the House Intelligence Committee hearings, a number of witnesses testified that their understanding was that the military aid was withheld in order to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into Trump’s political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden. The witnesses who testified to this include Ambassador Bill Taylor, National Security Council (NSC) official Tim Morrison, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, State Department official David Holmes, Department of Defense (DoD) official Laura Cooper, and NSC official Lt. Col. Alex Vindman (see the Appendix below for specific statements made by each of these witnesses)."
