Ranking minority member Davin Nunes's opening statement in the hearing on Marie Yovanovitch, ousted ambassador to Ukraine, was what he called the complete transcript of the April 21 call between President Trump and Ukraine's President Zelensky. Nunes's reading consisted entirely of congratulations for the election victories of the two leaders and invitations to visit one another. Nunes's reading contrasted sharply with the White House readout of the April 21 call, which said that the two leaders discussed "implementing reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption." The only reasonable explanation for the differing versions is that the White House wanted to impart substance to the April 21 call, and the rough transcript that Nunes read avoided a future problem of deception when the full transcript saw the light of day. It is the case that in both the April 21 and July 25 calls, the word "corruption" was not mentioned.
Throughout the Yovanovitch hearings, the Republicans used 55 days as the length of time the military aid was withheld. This corresponds to July 12, when the Office of Management and Budget acknowledged the directive from Trump to freeze the aid, although no reason had been given for the freeze; however, the White House had originally announced the release date as February 28, Thus, instead of withholding the aid for under two months, it was actually withheld for about six and a half months before the actual release date of September 11.
President Trump had contended that top officials in the Ukraine government had been saying that Yovanovitch was a bad ambassador, so it came as a surprise how Zelensky reacted when Trump said the following in the July 25 call:"[Yovanovitch was] bad news and the people she was dealing with were bad news, and I just wanted to let you know that." Zelensky replied: "It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%." Zelensky knows that Trump can elevate his standing in the world, so he doesn't want to get on his bad side by contradicting him, but no one in his government was bringing him bad news about Yovanovitch.
A major talking point by Republican lawmakers, other party officials, and Trump surrogates, is that Ukraine officials didn't feel pressured about the aid not arriving, and maybe not even knowing about the freeze. Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant of defense, the point person on the military aid, testified that the Ukraine officials she was in contact with, raised serious concerns about the freeze. In the exchange of text messages in August and September, Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, sent on August 8, an article headlined "Trump Holds Up Ukraine Military Aid Meant to Confront Russia." The article was sent to Kurt Volker, U.S. special envoy to Ukraine. It also strains credulity to argue that Ukraine officials -- and the Ukraine public, for that matter -- felt no concern during the 194 days between the scheduled day of aid release on February 28, and the actual September 11 release.
Rep, Devin Nunes (R-CA) and others, perhaps) contend that President Obama sent little more than "blankets" to Ukraine. Obama and Congress provided $600 million in security assistance, according to a 2107 Congressional Research Records Service report. A 2015 Defense Department news release said that Obama had pledged 230 Humvees, along with unarmed aerial vehicles, counter-mortar radars, night vision devices, and medical supplies to Ukraine. He also signed into law the Defense-managed Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and between fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2019, Congress appropriated $850 million. The fiscal year 2019 portion is what Trump blocked. It is certainly proper to argue that Barack Obama didn't do enough to assist Ukraine. It is not proper to claim he did virtually nothing.
Finally, President Trump had blocked the shipment of Javelins, anti-tank missiles, to Ukraine for "a week or two" in 2017,when the Ukraine judicial system was mulling over criminal charges against Paul Manafort for his unwelcome involvement in Ukraine governmental matters.
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