Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/137

 President's July 25 call and his actions towards Ukraine. In late August, the President's counsel reportedly briefed President Trump about the complaint. On September 5, The Washington Post published an editorial alleging that President Trump had withheld aid to Ukraine in an attempt "to force Mr. Zelensky to intervene in the 2020 U.S. presidential election by launching an investigation of the leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden." On September 9, several House Committees launched an investigation into "reported efforts by President Trump, the President's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and possibly others to pressure the government of Ukraine to assist the President's reelection campaign." On September 10, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff requested that the complaint be provided to the Committee, as required by law. Finally, on September 11, without any public explanation, President Trump abruptly ordered that the assistance be released to Ukraine; remarkably, he still has not held a White House meeting with President Zelensky.

This delay in releasing the assistance had significant real-world consequences. By the time the President ordered the release of security assistance to Ukraine, the Department of Defense was unable to spend approximately 14 percent of the funds appropriated by Congress for Fiscal Year 2019; as a result, Congress had to pass a new law to extend the funding in order to ensure the full amount could be used by Ukraine to defend itself. Moreover, by delaying the assistance for purposes understood by United States and Ukrainian officials as corrupt, President Trump harmed our relationship with Ukraine, signaled vulnerability to Russia, and more broadly injured American credibility and national security. As Ambassador Taylor testified, President Vladimir Putin of Russia would "love to see the humiliation of President Zelensky at the hands of the Americans," which "would give the Russians a freer hand." Ambassador Taylor further emphasized that the Ukrainians "counted on . . . the assurance of U.S. support" and so the hold on assistance had "shaken their faith in us." President Zelensky echoed a similar sentiment in a recent interview with Time: "I don't want us to look like beggars. But you have to understand, we're at war. If you're our strategic partner, then you can't go