A senior OMB official has defied Trump and showed up to testify to impeachment investigators on Saturday.
A senior White House budget official appeared for testimony Saturday morning before House impeachment investigators — a significant crack in President Donald Trump’s firewall that has prevented Democrats from learning critical details about the decision to freeze nearly $400 million of military aid to Ukraine.
Mark Sandy’s closed-door appearance alone was a breakthrough for Democrats, who have struggled to obtain testimony about what other officials have described as an abrupt order by the president to withhold the U.S. military assistance meant for Ukraine.
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The dam is breaking. Sandy is another non-partisan career official who is refusing to lie and cover-up for Donald Trump.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is central to the investigation because Trump ordered Mick Mulvaney’s OMB to freeze military aid to Ukraine until they would agree to investigate the Bidens. Until today, Trump and Mulvaney had OMB locked down. The impeachment investigation had been unable to get testimony or documents from the budget office.
Sandy’s testimony is a sign that career officials are rethinking their situation. Whether it is the convincing public testimony of non-partisan diplomats, or the conviction of Roger Stone for lying to Congress, Trump’s appears to be losing his grip on witnesses.
The pressure is building, and one gets the sense that Trump and his White House are not going to be able to keep the lid on witnesses for much longer.
Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
