White House review turns up emails showing extensive effort to justify Trump's decision to block Ukr

[swag]

Source: Washington Post

White House review turns up emails showing extensive effort to justify Trump’s decision to block Ukraine military aid

By
Josh Dawsey,
Carol D. Leonnig and
Tom Hamburger
November 24, 2019 at 11:57 a.m. PST

A confidential White House review of President Trump’s decision to place a hold on military aid to Ukraine has turned up hundreds of documents that reveal extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for the decision and a debate over whether the delay was legal, according to three people familiar with the records.

The research by the White House Counsel’s Office, which was triggered by a congressional impeachment inquiry announced in September, includes early August email exchanges between acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials seeking to provide an explanation for withholding the funds after President Trump had already ordered a hold in mid-July on the nearly $400 million in security assistance, according to the three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.

One person briefed on the records examination said White House lawyers are expressing concern that the review has turned up some unflattering exchanges and facts that could at a minimum embarrass the president. It’s unclear if the Mulvaney discussions or other records pose any legal problems for Trump in the impeachment inquiry, but some fear they could pose political problems if revealed publicly.

People familiar with the Office of Budget and Management’s handling of the holdup in aid acknowledged the internal discussions going on during August, but characterized the conversations as calm, routine and focused on the legal question of how to comply with the congressional Budget and Impoundment Act, which requires the executive branch to spend congressionally appropriated funds unless Congress agrees they can be rescinded.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-review-turns-up-emails-showing-extensive-effort-to-justify-trumps-decision-to-block-ukraine-military-aid/2019/11/24/2121cf98-0d57-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2ynmvQ9EbXV1tdNgMfvKZkIBVKgcdV2Hq69KurKTV3u2_KieR38Eqno2I

[jpak]

1. Kick

They just broke this on CNN...

[dewsgirl]

2. K and R

[cstanleytech]

3. While I doubt Mitch will allow the Senate Republicans to convict him we should use it against them

and hold their feet to the fire on it.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Add it to the COVER UP list.

Didn't any of these enablers learn anything from Nixon's impeachment!?!? Duh!

[ck4829]

5. Things innocent people don't do for 500, Alex

[TomCADem]

6. Why Even Bother? Fox and Senate Republicans Will Sign Off On Anything

Hasn't the GOP already gotten to the point of "So what? What are you going to do about it?"

[Dan]

8. Maybe because if the Democrats take the Presidency in 2020

We will get our own Attorney General and then file charges and put the lot of their asses in jail.

[Lonestarblue]

10. Republicans are still confident that they can steal the election.

Without massive turnout, the states that would give Trump the Electoral College advantage will be close enough in polls to let Republicans to get away with just enough vote tampering to “win” the election, just as they most likely did in 2016.

[Evolve Dammit]

7. Coverin' up and scramblin". Look at Bidens's, her emails, Benghazzzi. It's all they got.

[hibbing]

9. All kinds of doo doo hitting the fan today n/t