Newly-released and heavily-redacted memos from Office of Management and Budget national security official Mike Duffey reveal that the White House ordered the Pentagon to shut off military aid to Ukraine less than two hours after President Donald Trump got off the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25.
The memos, made public by the Center for Public Integrity, were released by the Trump administration late Friday night, as part of a court order in the wake of impeachment advancing to a Senate trial.
According to former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin, "This email makes clear that the White House intentionally violated the law by not notifying Congress about the Ukraine aid hold" because it "states that only those who 'execute' the spending — i.e. the Pentagon — are to be made aware of the hold. Not Congress."
In Trump's call with Zelensky, according to materials released by the White House, he pressured the foreign president to help him uncover dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden's family — which led to an article of impeachment for abuse of power.