USAToday: Senator says he was blocked by Trump from telling Ukraine foreign aid was coming [View all]
Source: USAToday
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he was blocked by President Donald Trump from telling Ukraine's president that U.S. aid was on its way amid accusations Trump was withholding it until the eastern European nation investigated his political rival.
Trump rejected Johnson's request in August after also refusing in May to back new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Oshkosh Republican told reporters Friday.
“I was surprised by the president’s reaction and realized we had a sales job to do,” Johnson said during a constituent stop in Sheboygan. “I tried to convince him (in August) to give me the authority to tell President Zelensky that we were going to provide that. Now, I didn’t succeed."
With his comments Friday, Johnson made clear that he was aware of allegations Trump was withholding aid to Ukraine for political reasons weeks before the public knew.
Trump, who faces a fast-moving impeachment inquiry over the matter, has denied the claim and Johnson has defended the president — but Johnson's story helps House Democrats confirm a key aspect of the probe.
Johnson was part of a delegation that attended Zelensky’s inauguration in May. He and others briefed Trump on the inauguration and urged Trump to back Zelensky but the president resisted the idea, Johnson said Friday. Johnson told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that Sondland told him that Ukraine would appoint a prosecutor who would, as Johnson put it, work to "get to the bottom of what happened in 2016 — if President Trump has that confidence, then he’ll release the military spending."
“At that suggestion, I winced,” Johnson told the Wall Street Journal. “My reaction was: Oh, God. I don’t want to see those two things combined.” He said he asked Trump about it and the president denied it.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/04/ron-johnson-says-trump-blocked-him-assuring-ukraine-aid/3868691002/
More details on the article. Note Johnson is Republican. More pieces of the puzzle coming together!
= new reply since forum marked as read
