Cooper says Ukrainians knew of stalled aid over the summer

By Tony Bertuca / November 20, 2019 at 9:34 PM

Pentagon official Laura Cooper told House impeachment investigators today that her staff on July 25 became aware that Ukrainian officials had inquired about delayed military aid, potentially undermining a key talking point that GOP lawmakers have used to defend President Trump for weeks.

Cooper, who oversees military policy on Ukraine, said that on July 25, the same day Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, members of her staff received two emails stating the Ukrainians were aware of the hold on the aid.

"My staff showed me two unclassified emails that they received from the State Department,” she said. “One was received on July 25, at 2:31 p.m. That email said that the Ukrainian embassy and House Foreign Affairs Committee are asking about security assistance.”

She added: “The second email was received July 25 at 4:25 p.m. That email said the Hill knows about the [Foreign Military Financing] situation to an extent and so does the Ukrainian embassy.”

Cooper told the investigators she did not know about the emails at the time of her private deposition several weeks ago and had since been alerted to them by her staff.

Additionally, Cooper said a Ukrainian officer told a member of her staff some time between Aug. 6 and Aug. 10 that a Ukrainian official might “raise concern about security assistance” in an upcoming meeting.

Cooper’s testimony could undermine some of the president’s Republican defenders, who have argued that Trump could not have sought to pressure Zelensky in exchange for an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter because the Ukrainians were unaware of the White House hold on the aid.

Cooper’s testimony followed an explosive appearance by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who testified that Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens in exchange for a White House meeting with Zelensky.

Trump denies he sought a “quid pro quo” arrangement with Zelensky, while GOP lawmakers point out that Sondland said the president never explicitly told him that the aid was conditioned on investigations into the Bidens.

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