WASHINGTON (AP) — A Defense Department official is testifying that the Ukrainian embassy was asking questions about U.S. military assistance as far back as July 25, the day President Donald Trump asked Ukraine’s president to investigate Democrats.
Testifying in an evening impeachment hearing, Laura Cooper told lawmakers her staff has showed her emails she had not yet seen when she testified behind closed doors last month in the impeachment probe looking into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Cooper says staff received an email on July 25 from a Ukrainian embassy contact asking “what was going on” with the security assistance. She said she “cannot say for certain” that Ukraine was aware the aid was being withheld, but said “it’s the recollection of my staff that they likely knew.”
Republicans have argued there was no “quid pro quo” — investigations into Democrats for military aid — if Ukrainians weren’t aware of a hold on the aid.