December 21, 2019 | 8:11pm
President Trump prodded staffers for details about US military aid to Ukraine five weeks before his July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, a heavily redacted batch of internal administration documents reveal.
Emails sent between officials at the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget show that the hold on the aid was placed just hours after the two leaders spoke.
Michael Duffey of the OMB told the Pentagon to freeze the payments “in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine.”
Democrats said the documents, posted online by the Center for Public Integrity late Friday, proved Trump’s “direct involvement” in the Ukraine matter.
“Frankly it’s just the 77th piece of evidence confirming the same thing,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted Saturday.