Trump Was Notified of Whistleblower Complaint Before He Released Aid to Ukraine: NYT - The Daily Beast

President Trump had already been briefed about a whistleblower’s complaint concerning his July 25 call with the Ukrainian president when he released nearly $400 million of security aid to Ukraine, The New York Times reports. Lawyers from the White House counsel’s office reportedly told the president in late August about the whistleblower’s complaint—which raised concerns about Trump potentially dangling the aid while asking Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue politically advantageous investigations. The lawyers told Trump they were trying to determine whether they were legally obligated to give it to Congress, the Times reports. In early September, the president reportedly decided to release the $391 million in aid. An Office of Management and Budget official, Mark Sandy, reportedly told Congress this month that he was notified of Trump’s decision to release the aid through an email from acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. The White House has not commented publicly on the matter.

Read it at The New York Times

2019-11-27 11:09:00Z
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWRhaWx5YmVhc3QuY29tL3RydW1wLXdhcy1ub3RpZmllZC1vZi13aGlzdGxlYmxvd2VyLWNvbXBsYWludC1iZWZvcmUtaGUtcmVsZWFzZWQtYWlkLXRvLXVrcmFpbmUtbnl00gEA?oc=5