President Donald Trump blocked nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine despite “unanimous” support for the aid package inside his own government, Fox News reports.
Trump withheld nearly $400 million in aid approved by Congress to help Ukraine stave off Russian aggression as he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden over a debunked conspiracy theory.
The Pentagon, State Department, and Trump's National Security Council were "unanimous" in their support for the aid, Fox News reported, but Trump acted alone in blocking it.
Fox News also reported that Rudy Giuliani had enlisted Fox News legal commentators Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing to help with his Ukrainian pressure campaign.
Pelosi says Trump blocking aid is impeachable:
After House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told “60 Minutes” Sunday that nothing in Trump’s call with Zelensky was impeachable, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the program that Republicans were “wrong.”
“It's not just what happens in the call. It's part of the sequencing of events as well,” Pelosi explained. “You withdraw a couple hundred million dollars-worth of assistance to a country. And then a couple days later, say, ‘By the way, can you help me with my campaign,’ in other words. There's a sequencing there.”
Whistleblower fears for personal safety:
Trump spent his weekend demanding to “meet” with the whistleblower who first reported the Ukraine call. On Sunday, “60 Minutes” reported that the whistleblower had gotten “federal protection.” The whistleblower’s attorney denied the report and released a letter his firm had written to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
The letter expressed “serious concerns” for the whistleblower’s “personal safety.”
“We appreciate your office’s support thus far to activate appropriate resources to ensure their safety,” the letter said, adding that Trump’s tweets have put the whistleblower in “harm’s way.”
