White House ADMITS quid pro quo ! Says they "do it all the time".
White House acknowledges strings attached in Trump withholding Ukraine aidToday from Reuters;
In response to:
By Jeff Mason and Karen Freifeld
Reuters•October 17, 2019
* Trump had denied "quid pro quo" in U.S. aid to Ukraine
* U.S. EU envoy testifies in House impeachment inquiry
* Envoy says Trump had Giuliani coordinate Ukraine policy (Recasts, adds Mulvaney "get over it" quote, Democratic reaction, details on cybersecurity firm, Rick Perry resignation plan)
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's withholding of $391 million in military aid to Ukraine was linked to his request that the Ukrainians look into a claim - debunked as a conspiracy theory - about the 2016 U.S. election, a senior presidential aide said on Thursday, the first time the White House acknowledged such a connection.
Trump and administration officials had denied for weeks that they had demanded a "quid pro quo" - a Latin phrase meaning a favor for a favor - for delivering the U.S. aid, a key part of a controversy that has triggered an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives against the Republican president.
But Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, acknowledged in a briefing with reporters that the U.S. aid - already approved by Congress - was held up partly over Trump's concerns about a Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer server alleged to be in Ukraine.
"I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy," Mulvaney said.
In a July 25 call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for "a favor" to look into the server as well as the California-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which was hired by the DNC in 2016 to investigate hacking of Democratic emails that it later determined was done by Russia.
Trump also asked Zelenskiy to investigate a domestic political opponent, Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter Biden, who had served as a director for a Ukrainian energy company. Zelenskiy agreed during the call to carry out the investigation that Trump sought. The U.S. aid later was provided to Ukraine.
The DNC server issue is a discredited claim that Ukraine and not Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election and that a Democratic Party computer server was being held somewhere in Ukraine. U.S. intelligence agencies and a special counsel investigation concluded that Russia used a campaign of hacking and propaganda to boost Trump's 2016 candidacy.
Biden is a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Mulvaney said Trump did not like foreign aid, thought Ukraine was corrupt and was annoyed at how little "lethal aid" European nations provided to Ukraine as it combated Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.
"Did he also mention to me in the past, the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question," Mulvaney said, referring to Trump. "But that's it. That's why we held up the money."
"The look-back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the things that he was worried about in corruption in that nation," Mulvaney said, referring to Trump.
A reporter told Mulvaney that what he just described was a quid pro quo. "We do that all the time with foreign policy," Mulvaney responded.
Democratic members of the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry pounced on Mulvaney's remarks.
Representative Gerald Connolly said: "I guess having failed at discrediting the facts of this case, they've decided on a new tactic, which is to admit them and basically say: 'So what'?
"The answer to that is, well the 'so what' is you're going to be impeached because that's abuse of office. And extortion, the last time I checked, is still a crime," he said.
By Jeff Mason and Karen Freifeld
Reuters•October 17, 2019
* Trump had denied "quid pro quo" in U.S. aid to Ukraine
* U.S. EU envoy testifies in House impeachment inquiry
* Envoy says Trump had Giuliani coordinate Ukraine policy (Recasts, adds Mulvaney "get over it" quote, Democratic reaction, details on cybersecurity firm, Rick Perry resignation plan)
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's withholding of $391 million in military aid to Ukraine was linked to his request that the Ukrainians look into a claim - debunked as a conspiracy theory - about the 2016 U.S. election, a senior presidential aide said on Thursday, the first time the White House acknowledged such a connection.
Trump and administration officials had denied for weeks that they had demanded a "quid pro quo" - a Latin phrase meaning a favor for a favor - for delivering the U.S. aid, a key part of a controversy that has triggered an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives against the Republican president.
But Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, acknowledged in a briefing with reporters that the U.S. aid - already approved by Congress - was held up partly over Trump's concerns about a Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer server alleged to be in Ukraine.
"I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy," Mulvaney said.
In a July 25 call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for "a favor" to look into the server as well as the California-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which was hired by the DNC in 2016 to investigate hacking of Democratic emails that it later determined was done by Russia.
Trump also asked Zelenskiy to investigate a domestic political opponent, Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter Biden, who had served as a director for a Ukrainian energy company. Zelenskiy agreed during the call to carry out the investigation that Trump sought. The U.S. aid later was provided to Ukraine.
The DNC server issue is a discredited claim that Ukraine and not Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election and that a Democratic Party computer server was being held somewhere in Ukraine. U.S. intelligence agencies and a special counsel investigation concluded that Russia used a campaign of hacking and propaganda to boost Trump's 2016 candidacy.
Biden is a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Mulvaney said Trump did not like foreign aid, thought Ukraine was corrupt and was annoyed at how little "lethal aid" European nations provided to Ukraine as it combated Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.
"Did he also mention to me in the past, the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question," Mulvaney said, referring to Trump. "But that's it. That's why we held up the money."
"The look-back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the things that he was worried about in corruption in that nation," Mulvaney said, referring to Trump.
A reporter told Mulvaney that what he just described was a quid pro quo. "We do that all the time with foreign policy," Mulvaney responded.
Democratic members of the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry pounced on Mulvaney's remarks.
Representative Gerald Connolly said: "I guess having failed at discrediting the facts of this case, they've decided on a new tactic, which is to admit them and basically say: 'So what'?
"The answer to that is, well the 'so what' is you're going to be impeached because that's abuse of office. And extortion, the last time I checked, is still a crime," he said.
Comments (16)
Trump didn't mention names, dangle money, or even talk politics. He said attornies would be in touch. It seems all the outsiders in this are adding their own two cents and still, none of it was actually presented to ukraine from Trump. Ukraine even testifies they never knew about why any thing was withheld. All administrative.
Another case and point about those interjecting what they want every one to see or think: your overlords are the ones that turned any thing political and dropped names to use as tools for their own fabrications.
Still, you hear more of every one else interjecting things than any thing implied by the overlords.
He wanted the "favor" first, before they got the Congress approved money
and Trump WITHHELD the money.
Stop the denial and face it. He's toast.
and if they throw him out of office, most of the country will give thanks.
So entire case just as stupid as their fake "collusion" case. Collusion not crime. Collusion is same cooperation. Of cause president try make cooperation with foreign government whenever possible. That their job. But Democrat always try fool peoples with deceptive twist of meaning of word. Democrats so phonies. Such evil peoples. Try destroy president who do nothing wrong. Jesus will rot they soul in the hell. They be sorry for eternity.
Obstruction of justice is the crime of interfering with the administration and due process of the law, including any criminal proceeding or investigation. Obstruction can be either a federal crime or a state crime, depending on the type of proceeding interfered with.
Quid-pro-quo not illegal. It done every day by every president.
We pull missile out of here if you pull missile out of there is quid-pro-quo. Not only legal, but this what we pay politician for.
I think Democrats don't understand becase we pay them for NOTHING. They think they only job is to obstruct the operation of government. They no do any peoples' work. We pay them to work against country. So that why they no understand anything.
He perceived Biden as his most likely opponent at that time. This isn't anything like.. we'll remove a missile if you do. The aid was already approved to help Ukraine remain independent from Russia. This was an attempt at POLITICAL gain from a foreign source.
It seemed plausible then & more so now...
Surfergirl calls out "the queen of warmongers"...