Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/558

 "extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for the decision and a debate over whether the delay was legal." White House Review Turns Up Emails Showing Extensive Effort to Justify Trump's Decision to Block Ukraine Military Aid, Washington Post (Nov. 24, 2019) (online at www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-housereview-turns-up-emails-showing-extensive-effort-to-justify-trumps-decision-to-block-ukraine-militaryaid/2019/11/24/2121cf98-0d57-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html). According to "two people briefed on an internal White House review," in August, Acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney "asked … whether there was a legal justification for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine." Mulvaney Asked About Legal Justification for Withholding Ukraine Aid, New York Times (Nov. 24, 2019) (online at www nytimes.com/2019/11/24/us/politics/mulvaney-ukraine-aid html). Reports indicate that, "[e]mails show [OMB Director] Vought and OMB staffers arguing that withholding aid was legal, while officials at the National Security Council and State Department protested. OMB lawyers said that it was legal to withhold the aid, as long as they deemed it a 'temporary' hold." White House Review Turns Up Emails Showing Extensive Effort to Justify Trump's Decision to Block Ukraine Military Aid, Washington Post (Nov. 24, 2019) (online at www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-review-turns-up-emails-showing-extensive-effort-to-justify-trumpsdecision-to-block-ukraine-military-aid/2019/11/24/2121cf98-0d57-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html). The White House and State Department's obstruction of Congress has prevented the Committee from obtaining any documents on this matter and, therefore, the Committee cannot verify the accuracy of this reporting as of the publication of this report.

1010 Cooper Dep. Tr. at 80. 1011 Sandy Dep. Tr. at 146-147.

1012 See Department of Defense, DOD Budget Materials (FY2011-FY2018) (online at https://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/). In 1974, President Nixon impounded 15-20 percent of a number of specific programs, which prompted the passage of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Congressional Research Service, The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344) Legislative History and Analysis (Feb. 26, 1975).

1013 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019, Pub. L. No. 115-245, § 9013 (2018); Sandy Dep. Tr. at 147.

1014 Continuing Appropriations Act 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-59, § 124 (2019).

1015 Cooper Dep. Tr. at 98.

1016 $35 Million in Pentagon Aid Hasn't Reached Ukraine Despite White House Assurances, L.A. Times (Nov. 19, 2019) (online at www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-11-19/documents-show-nearly-40-million-inukraine-aid-delayed-despite-white-house-assurances).

1017 ''Zelensky Planned to Announce Trump's 'Quo' on My Show. Here's What Happened'', Washington Post (Nov. 14, 2019) (online at www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/zelensky-was-planning-to-announce-trumps-quidpro-quo-on-my-show-heres-what-happened/2019/11/14/47938f32-072a-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html).

1018 Id.

1019 Taylor Dep. Tr. at 40.

1020 Kent-Taylor Hearing Tr. at 106.

1021 Id.

1022 Hill-Holmes Hearing Tr. at 33.

1023 Id.

1024 Taylor Dep. Tr. at 41.

1025 Id. at 217-18.

1026 Id.

1027 Holmes Dep. Tr. at 30.