Democrats call on watchdog to probe Pentagon's role in Ukraine aid delay

Several Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), are asking the Defense Department inspector general to investigate the Trump administration’s delay of military aid to Ukraine and what role Pentagon officials may have played in the matter.

The request comes as the House has begun impeachment proceedings against President Trump on allegations he withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Biden is a leading candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Durbin announced the request Wednesday night on Twitter.

“I’m calling on the [DOD IG] to investigate the withholding of Ukraine military aid appropriated by Congress, allegedly at the direction of the White House,” he said. “The delay raises questions about whether DOD officials were involved in any scheme to target a political opponent.”

The delay of $125 million in aid, which was eventually released, “would appear to have hindered the department’s statutory obligation to provide security assistance to Ukraine at a critical moment,” Durbin and the other lawmakers wrote in a letter to acting DOD Inspector General Glenn Fine.

“As a result, it is imperative that your office pursue a thorough review of DOD’s potential role in these allegations, and provide your findings to the congressional defense committees in a timely manner,” the letter states.

As of May 23, the letter states, DOD indicated it was “on track” to provide the funds to Ukraine.

“However, for reasons unknown, this progress slowed over the summer, and by mid-August, the congressional defense committees were notified that no funds had been executed due to inexplicable, unspecified delays,” according to the letter.

In a separate Sept. 3 letter to acting Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, Durbin, along with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) called on the Trump administration to release the aid authorized for Ukraine.

Trump, meanwhile, says he has done nothing wrong.

The White House on Wednesday morning released a reconstructed transcript of a conversation Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the summer in which he requested an investigation into Biden and his son, but the president says he made no quid pro quo offer.

Meanwhile, House Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry and lawmakers are studying a classified complaint from an intelligence community whistleblower pertaining to the matter.

Trump, speaking Wednesday at a Manhattan hotel, said the investigation was “a joke” because he did nothing wrong and did not pressure Zelensky.

“The witch hunt continues,” the president said.