WASHINGTON • New documents show that Mr Donald Trump asked about US military aid to Ukraine a month before the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which went on to trigger the impeachment investigation into the US President.
The heavily redacted documents, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Centre for Public Integrity, also show that administration officials ordered a hold on the aid about an hour after the two leaders' call on July 25.
Mr Trump had asked about a June 19 article in the Washington Examiner newspaper referencing the aid.
Mr Michael Duffey, an official at the Office of Management and Budget, wrote to the Pentagon requesting more detail about the funding.
"The President has asked about this funding release, and I have been tasked to follow up with someone over there to get more detail," Mr Duffey wrote.
An e-mail from Mr Duffey to Deputy Secretary of Defence David Norquist on July 25, shortly after the Trump-Zelensky phone call, expressed uneasiness about the hold.
"Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know," Mr Duffey wrote.
Mr Duffey, who works on national security issues, is one of four witnesses whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has requested for the pending Senate trial of Mr Trump on two articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives last week.
Mr Schumer met Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last Thursday to discuss the terms of a trial.
The meeting ended in an impasse before Congress broke for the holidays. Mr Schumer "made clear to Senator McConnell that the witnesses and documents are necessary to ensure a fair trial in the Senate", said spokesman Justin Goodman.
Mr McConnell has been pushing for a process that likely would not include any witnesses.
The other officials whom Mr Schumer has requested are acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton, and Mr Robert Blair, an adviser to Mr Mulvaney.
The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Mr Trump last Wednesday following an investigation into allegations that the President withheld military aid from Ukraine in an effort to extract politically damaging information about a domestic political rival, former vice-president Joe Biden.
Senator Chris Murphy said last Saturday on Twitter that the new documents show Mr Trump's "direct involvement" in the matter.
But he later seemed to concede that the documents, while important, were just the latest piece of evidence in a months-long inquiry spearheaded by House Democrats.
BLOOMBERG
