Independent claim Trump ordered aid stopped 90 minutes after Zelensky call as per FOIA email by Michael Duffey I'm posting this so as to get to the bottom of it as this will really fuel the pro-impeachment base https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6590667-CPI-v-DoD-Dec-20-2019-Release.html apparently its somewhere in that 150 pg document dump edit - found it page 78 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-ukraine-call-zelensky-biden-omb-documents-latest-a9256666.html?fbclid=IwAR1UYppZ8CGjaypDRjueoLCwmBt9dRf6CCTB0jQMpLP3xniCLtZs6_qgZQI Donald Trump’s administration ordered the Pentagon to freeze $391m (£300m) of military aid to Ukraine less than two hours after the phone call in which US president asked Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, newly released internal emails have revealed. A declassified White House memorandum documenting the president’s 25 July call with Mr Zelensky shows the call – during which Mr Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart to probe a conspiracy theory his own aides have attributed to Russia’s intelligence services – began at 9.03 am and ended 30 minutes later.  At 11.04 am that day – 91 minutes after the call had ended – senior Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official Michael Duffey sent an email to Defence Department officials requesting the Pentagon stop making plans to distribute any security assistance funds to Ukraine, the papers show. The White House’s decision to withhold the funding – a move legal experts say violated US law prohibiting the president from “impounding” congressionally appropriated funds – is at the centre of the “abuse of power” charges for which the House of Representatives impeached Mr Trump on Wednesday. The House’s vote to approve impeachment charges was the culmination of a months-long investigation stemming from a whistleblower complaint notifying the US Intelligence Community’s Inspector General that that the anonymous whistleblower had “received information from multiple US government officials” which indicated that Mr Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election”.  While administration officials have told impeachment investigators the president had ordered the OMB to withhold aid to Ukraine as early as 12 July, the newly released documents show White House officials ordering the Pentagon to pause the funds shortly after Mr Zelensky declined to acquiesce to Mr Trump’s request for “a favour” during the 25 July call. “Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,” wrote Mr Duffey, associate director for national security programmes. Mr Duffey, a political appointee who was previously head of Wisconsin’s Republican Party, had taken over management of the Ukraine aid portfolio from his deputy Mark Sandy, a career civil servant. ... more in article Edit here's the 25 july email at 11:04am David/Elaine/Eric: Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process. I understand that DOD will continue its planning and casework during this period and that this brief pause in obligations will not preclude DO D's timely execution of the final policy direction. We intend to formalize the pause with an apportionment footnote to be provided later today. Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute the direction. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Mike Mike Duffey Associate Director for National Security Programs Office of Management and Budget The White House