Schiff says White House's comments about witholding Ukraine aid makes things 'much worse'

Record ID: 1437245

  • Title: Schiff says White House's comments about witholding Ukraine aid makes things 'much worse'
  • Date: 17th October 2019
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE ADAM SCHIFF EXITING ELEVATOR AND WALKING UP TO MICROPHONE STAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE ADAM SCHIFF SAYING: "Just want to make a very brief statement in light of the comments of the acting Chief of Staff or Chief of Staff Mulvaney, with his acknowledgement now that military aid to a vital ally, an ally battling Russia as we speak, was withheld in part out of a desire by the president to have Ukraine investigate the DNC server or Democrats for 2016. Things have just gone from very, very bad to much, much worse. The idea that vital military assistance would be withheld for such a patently political reason, for the reason of serving the president's re-election campaign is a phenomenal breach of the president's duty to defend our national security. And I hope that every member, Democrat and Republican, will speak out and condemn this illicit action by the president and his chief of staff.' SCHIFF WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 31st October 2019 20:43
  • Keywords: Adam Schiff House Intelligence Committee Mick Mulvaney Ukraine aid quid pro quo impeachment
  • Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B1HMN9J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said the White House's explanation for why it temporarily withheld aid to Ukraine, took things from "very, very bad to much, much worse," on Thursday (October 17).
    "The idea that vital military assistance would be withheld for such a patently political reason, for the reason of serving the president's re-election campaign is a phenomenal breach of the president's duty," Schiff told reporters.
    Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged that U.S. President Donald Trump held back military aid for Ukraine earlier this year in part to pressure Kiev to look into allegations about the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
    Mulvaney's reference to 2016 refers to a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine and not Russia interfered in the U.S. election that year and that a Democratic Party computer server was being held somewhere in Ukraine.
    Asked about such transactions being a "quid pro quo," he told reporters it was common practice. Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase that means exchanging a favor for a favor.
    Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate U.S. politics are at the heart of a congressional impeachment probe into whether the president acted inappropriately in using U.S. foreign policy to seek to impact his re-election.
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