Donald Trump comes across as an exceptionally stubborn man. In actuality, his behavior is a symptom of his rampant narcissism. His top aides went to him urging him to release the $391 million in military aid that he had held from Ukraine as a bargaining tool. They failed.
According to the newly-released report, Donald Trump had insisted upon holding back that aid. The reason was that he was using it ask a tool to get his top contender in the 2020 presidential election in trouble.
Former Representative and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) just released a new report. It revealed Mulvaney’s role in withholding aid to Ukraine. In addition, it revealed how hard the president’s top advisers had worked to do so. Mulvaney considered this a “game-changer.” Even the president’s top men could not protect him if he did not lay low.
Senate Minority Leader Check Schumer (D-NY) said, according to The New York Times:
‘THIS NEW STORY SHOWS ALL FOUR WITNESSES THAT WE SENATE DEMOCRATS HAVE REQUESTED [WERE] “INTIMATELY INVOLVED AND HAD DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S DECISION TO CUT OFF AID AND BENEFIT HIMSELF.’
The Democratic senator continued:
‘SIMPLY PUT, IN OUR FIGHT TO HAVE KEY DOCUMENTS AND WITNESSES IN THE SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, THESE NEW REVELATIONS ARE A GAME CHANGER.’
The New York Times wrote that the U.S. president and Mulvaney (R-SC) had been in the air on Air Force One when Trump emailed him:
‘DID WE EVER FIND OUT ABOUT THE MONEY FOR UKRAINE AND WHETHER WE CAN HOLD IT BACK?’
POTUS said that he did not believe the newly-elected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was not innocent or a real reformer:
‘UKRAINE IS A CORRUPT COUNTRY. WE ARE PISSING AWAY OUR MONEY.’
The four witnesses “were intimately involved” with what was going on behind the scenes, Schumer said. The senator noted that the four witnesses “were intimately involved:”
‘LET ME BE CLEAR, THIS IS ABOUT GETTING TO THE TRUTH. WILL THE SENATE HOLD A FAIR TRIAL OR WILL IT ENABLE A COVER-UP? PRESIDENT TRUMP, IF YOU ARE SO CONFIDENT YOU DID NOTHING WRONG, WHY WON’T YOU LET YOUR MEN TESTIFY?’
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sat on both the House Judiciary and the Oversight Committees. He appeared on MSNBC Live hosted by Katy Tur where he said:
‘THE NEW YORK TIMES STORY JUST FILLS IN A LOT MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE ESSENTIAL NARRATIVE THAT’IS IN THE IMPEACHMENT REPORT COMING FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. AND WE HOPE THAT THE SENATE WOULD INDEED FILL IN FURTHER FACTS THAT HAVE SINCE SURFACED, YOU KNOW, AFTER OUR IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT.’
The report indicated that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and former national security adviser (NSA) John Bolton met in the Oval Office. They were making a last-ditch effort to try and get the president to release the House allocated funds.
Adviser Robert Blair responded that this could happen, but they should:
‘[E]XPECT CONGRESS TO BECOME UNHINGED.’
The three men who tried to help Mulvaney:
‘BLAIR AND THREE OFFICIALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, RUSSELL VOUGHT, THE OFFICE’S ACTING HEAD, MICHAEL DUFFEY, WHO OVERSEES FUNDING, AND LAWYER MARK PAOLETTA.’
Bolton told Trump:
‘THIS IS IN AMERICA’S INTEREST.’
The information about the hold Trump had placed on the military aid surfaced, The U.S. president did a fast turn-around and announced his hold was over. However, the commander-in-chief still has not released the final $37 million. Is there a chance he will use that money to fund his border wall between the U.S. and Mexico?
The Intelligence Committee Chair and immigration point person Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote:
‘DESPITE THE PRESIDENT’S OBSTRUCTION, ADDITIONAL DAMNING EVIDENCE OF HIS ABUSE OF POWER CONTINUES TO COME TO LIGHT. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER THE SENATE WILL DEMAND TO SEE THESE AND OTHER EMAILS AND HEAR FROM THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
