The surprise impeachment testimony of OMB official Mark Sandy is expected to detail who froze the military aid to Ukraine and why.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said on MSNBC:
He can inform the committee of inquiry about the details of the decision, who made it and why, to suspend military aid to Ukraine. And there was an earlier suspension, remember, on the Javelin missiles, separate from the full package that had been approved by four levels, intelligence, defense, state department, but was held up by OMB, and nobody knew why.
And the Javelin missiles were important, and there were reports that Mulvaney held it up because he was worried about the Russian reaction to the provision of Javelin missiles, which are a very effective antitank weapons that are very important to Ukraine’s defense. So, we’d want to know about both of those things. And I think he can, Sandy can shed a lot of light on them.
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Video:
OMB official can tell impeachment investigators who made the decision to freeze Ukraine military aid. pic.twitter.com/LlYQo3k6L7
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 16, 2019
The reason why the White House leaned so hard on OMB officials not testify is that OMB is the operational connection of the military aid freeze and the demand for an investigation into the Bidens. If Sandy testifies that Mick Mulvaney directed the office to freeze Ukraine military aid at the direction of Trump, it puts the president in the middle of the scandal and wrecks any remaining impeachment defense that he might have.
OMB has been the missing piece, and now impeachment investigators are getting answers.
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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
