Pentagon official cited alarm over hold on aid to Ukraine

A top career Defense Department official described to House impeachment investigators her dismay over the summer’s delay of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, painting a portrait of a Pentagon doing battle with the White House over the release of funding deemed “vital” to national security.

Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper, who testified late last month, said that she took part in her agency’s review of Ukraine’s progress in combating corruption, in which officials concluded that “sufficient progress has been made.”

Despite this assessment, top officials in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), guided by President Trump, felt otherwise.

View the complete November 11 article by Olivia Beavers and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.