Department of Defense had certified Ukraine met its anti-corruption benchmarks in Spring 2019, that certification occurred before President Zelensky's inauguration.[1] Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper testified during her public hearing that the anti-corruption review examined the efforts of the Poroshenko administration and that President Zelensky had appointed a new Minister of Defense.[2]
As President Trump told Ambassador Sondland on September 9, he sought "nothing" from the Ukrainian government; he only wanted President Zelensky to "do what he ran on."[3] President Zelensky had run on an anti-corruption platform, and these early aggressive actions provided confirmation that he was the "real deal," as U.S. officials advised President Trump.
12. The security assistance was ultimately disbursed to Ukraine in September 2019 without any Ukrainian action to investigate President Trump's political rival.
On September 11, President Trump met with Vice President Pence, Senator Rob Portman, and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to discuss U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.[4] As recounted by NSC Senior Director Tim Morrison, the group discussed whether President Zelensky's progress on anti-corruption reform—which Vice President Pence discussed during his bilateral meeting with President Zelensky on September 1—was significant enough to justify releasing the aid.[5] He testified:
I believe Senator Portman was relating, and I believe the Vice President as well, related their view of the importance of the assistance. The Vice President was obviously armed with his conversation with President Zelensky, and they were—they convinced the President that the aid should be disbursed immediately.[6]
Following this meeting, the President decided to lift the pause on U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.[7] The release was conveyed to the interagency the following morning.[8] The U.S. disbursed this assistance without Ukraine ever acting to investigate President Trump's political rival.
Democrats cannot show conclusively that the Trump Administration lifted the pause on security assistance only as a result of their impeachment inquiry. In a private conversation with Senator Johnson on August 31, President Trump signaled that the aid would be released, saying then: "We're reviewing it now, and you'll probably like my final decision."[9] A number of other
- ↑ Deposition of Laura Cooper, in Wash., D.C., at 19, 99 (Oct. 23, 2019).
- ↑ Impeachment Inquiry: Ms. Laura Cooper and Mr. David Hale, supra note 246.
- ↑ Sondland deposition, supra note 51, at 106.
- ↑ Morrison deposition, supra note 12, at 242-43.
- ↑ Id. at 243.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Id. at 211.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Letter from Sen. Johnson, supra note 138, at 5.
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