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The Week
Mitt Romney asks impeachment lawyers exactly when and why Trump froze Ukraine military aid
While questioning House impeachment managers and President Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday night, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) posed a query: “On what specific date did President Trump first order the hold on security assistance to Ukraine and did he explain the reason at that time?”Romney is one of the Republicans to watch when it comes time to vote on whether to allow additional witnesses in the trial.Last year, Trump froze $391 million in military aid to Ukraine. The impeachment managers argue that was an abuse of power, as Trump did this in order to pressure Ukraine into launching an investigation into a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.One of Trump’s lawyers, Patrick Philbin, responded, “I don’t think there is evidence in the record of a specific date.” He went on to say that in late June, Trump began asking how much money other NATO members spent to help Ukraine, and Trump was concerned about corruption in the country. “So the evidence in the record shows that the president raised concerns, at least as of June 24th, that people were aware of the hold as of July 3rd,” Philbin said.The New York Times notes that there is testimony showing Office of Management and Budget officials knew of a hold on the aid as early as June 3. More than a month later, on July 25, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and asked him to “do us a favor” and investigate Biden.More stories from theweek.com It’s 2020 and women are exhausted Authorities find longest-ever border tunnel between Tijuana and San Diego Did John Bolton actually do Trump a favor?
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