Ukraine Quid Pro Quo: Withheld $391 Million in Military Aid to Extort Investigation of Biden

Overview

Ukraine was at war. Russian forces had occupied Crimea since 2014 and were supporting a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The $391 million in military assistance — Javelin anti-tank missiles, ammunition, training support — was not an abstraction. It was the material of defense against an ongoing military conflict.

Trump held the money while his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was conducting a pressure campaign on Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would help Trump's re-election campaign.

The Call

The White House released a summary of the July 25 call — not a full transcript, but a reconstruction. It was enough. Trump's words were in the document: "I would like you to do us a favor though." The "favor" preceded any discussion of releasing the aid.

This is what quid pro quo means. You get the thing you want after you do the thing we want. The summary — released by the White House to contain the story — became the central evidence of its own undoing.

Mulvaney's Admission

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was asked at a press conference whether the aid had been withheld for political reasons. He said yes. He said get over it. He then tried to walk the statement back, claiming he had been misunderstood. The press conference had been recorded.

The GAO Finding

The Government Accountability Office — the nonpartisan congressional watchdog — found that withholding the congressionally appropriated assistance violated the Impoundment Control Act. This was not a partisan finding. It was a legal conclusion about the president's authority to unilaterally withhold funds Congress had approved.

Romney

Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator to vote to convict. He wept on the Senate floor. He said his faith required him to vote his conscience. He knew what the political consequences would be.

He voted to convict anyway.