Trump tied Ukraine aid to Democrat probe

A top White House official admits that Donald Trump had tied military aid for Ukraine to Kiev to political purposes.

‘That’s it, and that’s why we held up the money’: Mick Mulvaney on Friday. Picture: AFP

A top White House official has admitted that Donald Trump had tied milit­ary aid for Ukraine to Kiev undertaking an investigation that would help the US President polit­ically, adding ammunition to the Demo­crats’ impeachment probe.

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s admission on Friday supports a key allegation in the House of Representatives impeachment effort, that Mr Trump illicitly sought foreign polit­ical help as he seeks re-election next year.

Mr Mulvaney said it was true that Mr Trump used the aid to prod Kiev in July to investigate the allegation that the Democra­t­ic National Committee had hidden a computer server in Ukraine that would undermine claims that his 2016 election victory was helped by Russian meddling.

Mr Trump did not want to send nearly $US400m in military aid to Ukraine because the country was deeply corrupt, Mr Mulvaney said. “Did he also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the DNC server? Abso­lutely. No question about that.

“That’s it, and that’s why we held up the money.”

The admission appeared to support Democrats’ charges that Mr Trump abused his power and violated election laws.

“Mulvaney just said that US military aid for Ukraine was held up pending Ukraine’s investigation of Democrats,” tweeted Adam Schiff, the house intelligence committee chairman leading the impeachment inquiry­. “Things just went from very, very bad to much, much worse.’’

But Mr Mulvaney argued that Mr Trump had done nothing wrong, because he acted in support of a Justice Department probe into the origins of 2016 Russian meddling allegations.

And Mr Mulvaney denied that Mr Trump also tied the aid to Ukraine investigating a top Democratic rival, Joe Biden, ahead of the 2020 vote.

That Biden allegation is the other key leg of Democrats’ charges­ against Mr Trump. “The money held up had absolutely nothing to do with Biden,” he said.

Mr Mulvaney’s comments added to a dramatic day in which the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, told congres­s­ional investigators that Mr Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, sought political help from Ukraine, and US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who was deeply involved in Ukraine talks, submitted his resignation.

Mr Sondland said in written testimony that Mr Trump ordered­ diplomats in May to involve­ Mr Giuliani in talks with new Ukraine President Volod­ymyr Zelensky. Mr Giuliani, he said, sought to pressure Mr Zelensky to investigate Biden and Biden’s son over ties to a Ukraine energy company, Burisma, as well as to find evidence for the 2016 Democratic server theory. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma for five years until April.

“Mr Giuliani specifically mentioned­ the 2016 election and Burisma as two anti-corruption investigatory topics of importance for the President,” he said.

“I did not understand, until much later, that Mr Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrain­ians to investigate vice-president Biden or his son or to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly, in the President’s 2020 re-elect­ion campaign.’’

AFP