The view among US national security officials was unanimous: Military aid to Ukraine should not be stopped. However, the White House’s acting chief of staff thought otherwise.
That was the testimony of US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs Laura Cooper, whose deposition as part of a US House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump was released on Monday.
“My sense is that all of the senior leaders of the US national security departments and agencies were all unified in their … in their view that this assistance was essential,” Cooper said. “And they were trying to find ways to engage the president on this.”
Cooper’s testimony was among several hundred pages of transcripts released on Monday, along with those of US Department of State officials Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson.
Cooper told investigators that, in a series of July meetings at the White House, she came to understand that Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, was holding up the military aid for the US ally.
“There was just this issue of the White House chief of staff has conveyed that the president has concerns about Ukraine,” Cooper said.
When she and others tried to get an explanation, they found none, she said, adding: “We did not get clarification.”
It was “unusual” to have congressional funds suddenly halted that way, she said, adding that aides raised concerns about the legality of it.
The Pentagon was “concerned” about the holdup of funds and “any signal that we would send to Ukraine about a wavering in our commitment,” Cooper said.
Cooper told investigators that she was visited in August by US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker, who told her that there was a “statement” that the Ukraine government could make to get the security money flowing.
She said that it was the first she had heard of the quid pro quo that is now the central question of the impeachment inquiry — the administration’s push for the Ukraine government to investigate Trump’s political rivals.
The House is investigating whether Trump breached his oath of office by pushing Ukraine’s president to investigate possible Democratic rivals in next year’s US presidential election, including former US vice president Joe Biden, while the administration was withholding military funds for the east European ally.
Cooper described the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, saying that it involved a range of items, such as night-vision goggles, vehicles, sniper rifles and medical equipment.
“Security assistance is vital to helping the Ukrainians be able to defend themselves,” Cooper said.
As Ukraine and Georgia are two “frontline states” facing Russian aggression, the US needed to “shore up these countries’ abilities to defend themselves,” she said.
“It’s in our interest to deter Russian aggression elsewhere around the world,” she added.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS