Defense Department official says Pentagon received 'phone calls from industry' after hold on Ukraine aid

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper testified last month that Pentagon officials began receiving "phone calls from industry" -- apparently referring to private companies that supply weapons and military hardware to the government -- after President Trump initiated a hold on military aid to Ukraine earlier this year.
The revelation, which came in a transcript of Cooper's closed-door Oct. 23 deposition released Monday by House Democrats as part of their impeachment inquiry, prompted concerns from commentators that the most self-destructive elements of the Russia probe were resurfacing.
"Like Russiagate, Ukrainegate enrolls liberals in the Cold War designs of dangerous hawks and neocons," tweeted journalist Aaron Mate.
Additionally, Cooper testified that the Trump administration had pushed Ukraine to issue a public statement disavowing any efforts to influence U.S. elections -- but Cooper stopped short of saying that officials wanted to include a reference to Joe and Hunter Biden's business dealings in the country.
Previous testimony in the inquiry has suggested that the White House improperly pressured Ukraine to implicate the Bidens publicly. Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, for example, had remarked that European Union envoy Gordon Sondland and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani worked with a top Ukrainian aide to include a reference to the Biden-linked Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings.
But, Cooper said that on Aug. 20, Volker met with her -- and the idea of mentioning the Bidens apparently didn't come up.
"In that meeting, he did mention something to me that, you know, was the first about, somehow, an effort that he was engaged in to see if there was a statement that the government of Ukraine would make that would somehow disavow any interference in U.S. elections and would commit to the prosecution of any individuals involved in election interference," Cooper said. "And, that was about as specific as it got."
Cooper's testimony was made public as House Democrats on Monday also released transcripts from their interviews with Christopher Anderson, a career foreign service officer at the State Department, and Catherine Croft, a Ukraine expert at the State Department. Croft testified that she speculated Trump would be willing to shift Ukraine policy to hurt a Biden candidacy, and that news of a holdup of Ukraine aid "blew up" a State Department meeting.
Croft, in her remarks, said that the Office of Management and Budget had "reported that the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, had placed an informal hold on security assistance to Ukraine. The only reason given was that it came at the direction of the president."
Separately, Cooper testified about Defense Department concerns that Trump's temporary withholding of military aid to Ukraine may have been illegal.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper, left, on Capitol Hill on Oct. 30. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

"I'm not an expert on the law, but in that meeting immediately deputies began to raise concerns about how this could be done in a legal fashion because there was broad understanding in the meeting that the funding -- the State Department funding related to an earmark for Ukraine and that the DOD funding was specific to Ukraine security assistance," Cooper testified, concerning a July 23 meeting of national security officials. "The comments in the room at the deputies' level reflected a sense that there was not an understanding of how this could legally play out, and at that meeting, the deputies agreed to look into the legalities and to look at what was possible."
The legalities likely regarded the issue of "impoundment" – the requirement that the president either had to spend the money or "impound" it.  The White House was coming up against an impoundment deadline when it released the funds for Ukraine.
Moreover, Cooper said, Defense Department officials were concerned that Trump's decision would weaken a "strategic partner."
"I mean, so DOD was concerned about the obligation of funds," she said. "Policy, my team, we were also concerned about any signal that we would send to Ukraine about a wavering in our commitment. ... They are trying to negotiate a peace with Russia, and if they are seen as weak, and if they are seen to lack the backing of the United States for their Armed Forces, it makes it much more difficult for them to negotiate a peace on terms that are good for Ukraine."
She added: "My sense is that all of the senior leaders of the U.S. national security departments and agencies were all unified in their — in their view that this assistance was essential, and they were trying to find ways to engage the president on this."
Croft, meanwhile, told House investigators, "If this were public in Ukraine it would be seen as a reversal of our policy and would, just to say sort of candidly and colloquially, this would be a really big deal, it would be a really big deal in Ukraine, and an expression of declining U.S. support for Ukraine."
Ukraine had satisfied all necessary benchmarks to obtain Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, Cooper told lawmakers. This past May, Cooper said, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood "provided the certification to Congress, but that was after coordination with the State Department."
Cooper also told investigators she could make a "very strong inference" that Ukraine was aware in August that the Trump administration was holding up the financial assistance, shortly before the aid was released in September. The Ukraine aid was suspended temporarily in August -- two weeks before the White House released it, Politico reported.
"It could have been my inference, yes, a very strong inference that there was some knowledge on the part of the Ukrainians," Cooper testified. She called the aid suspension, which came without an explanation to her knowledge, "unusual."
Military aid to Ukraine, Cooper further testified, was relevant to U.S. national-security interests.
"Ukraine, and also Georgia, are the two front-line states facing Russian aggression," Cooper said. "In order to deter further Russian aggression, we need to be able to shore up these countries' abilities to defend themselves. That's, I think, pure and simple, the rationale behind our strategy of supporting these countries. It's in our interest to deter Russian aggression elsewhere around the world."
Trump's suggested in his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the country investigate Joe and Hunter Biden's business dealings there, after it emerged that Joe Biden, the former vice president and current 2020 presidential candidate, had pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor while Hunter Biden held a lucrative role on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company. Zelensky has said he felt no improper pressure during the call.
In a statement, top House Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry noted that Cooper's testimony indicated that Trump's Ukraine policy angered some officials in the administration.

Katie Hill Cartoons

Steve Knight eyes old seat after Katie Hill resignation

The two-term Republican who was ousted in 2018 by Katie Hill announced on his website Sunday that he will attempt to win back his old seat.
“I am proud to return to public service and deliver the type of representation our district deserves,” Steve Knight posted on his website.
Hill defeated Knight by 9 points in California’s 25th District in November. Hill-- a centrist-- was seen as a rising Democratic star because the district is seen as one of a few in the state that could be carried by a Republican.
Henry Olsen, a columnist in the Washington Post, wrote a piece last month that questioned whether or not the state was “reopening” the doors to Republicans. He pointed out that the district was a Republican stronghold before President Trump. He also called the election—which will likely occur on March 3, a possible bellwether for Republicans.
"Republicans have no chance of retaking the House if they cannot retake seats like the one Hill is vacating," Olsen wrote.
Hill resigned from her seat last month after she said  explicit private photos of her with a campaign staffer had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Hill had acknowledged “errors in judgment” that Pelosi said made her continued service in Congress “untenable.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Donald Trump Jr sparks protests, fan support during stop at UCLA

Donald Trump Jr., who is on a nationwide book tour that included a tense stop at “The View,” was in Southern California on Sunday where he was greeted by protesters and some supporters at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Trump Jr.'s appearance, once inside, was marked by an argument between him and the audience over why he would not take questions, the Guardian newspaper reported. Trump was initially being greeted with shouts of shouts of "USA! USA!" when he first appeared on the stage of a lecture hall, members of the audience eventually turned to louder, openly hostile chants of "Q and A! Q and A!" after they were told he would not take questions, the newspaper reported.
The Guardian said that Trump Jr. told the audience that taking questions from the floor risked creating soundbites that leftwing social media posters would abuse and distort.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, his girlfriend, told audience members that they were being rude, according to the Guardian.
After the stop at the university, Trump Jr. posted on Twitter that he appeared at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley where he said he stayed for over four hours and had about 1,400 in attendance. He said the audience had high energy.

Nikki Haley: Former cabinet members told me to resist President Trump

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is claiming two former cabinet members tried to recruit her to help undermine the president. In a recent interview, Haley said former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly confronted her in a closed-door meeting to enlist her in opposing President Trump.
Haley will detail the alleged meeting in her soon to be released memoir, “With All Due Respect.” She said Kelly and Tillerson “confided in me that when they resisted the president, they weren’t being insubordinate — they were trying to save the country.”

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leaves a courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

According to the memoir, Tillerson told Haley lives were at stake if the president were to go unchecked. The former South Carolina governor said she declined their offers, calling them offensive.
“Go tell the president what your differences are and quit if you don’t like what he’s doing,” said Haley. “To undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing — it goes against the Constitution and what the American people want.”
Although Haley has not always seen eye to eye with the president, she said she will stand by him as he continues to seek another term in office in 2020.
“What I’ll be doing is campaigning for this one,” she said. “I look forward to supporting the president in the next election.”

FILE – In this Nov. 16, 2018, file photo, now former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly watches as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The former UN ambassador has also spoken out against House Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Trump. She said his alleged attempts to seek assistance from foreign nations for political investigations is not impeachable.
“The Ukrainians never did the investigation and the president released the funds,” stated Haley. “There’s just nothing impeachable there.”
Haley stepped down from her position in the UN back in 2018 and received a warm sendoff from President Trump. “With All Due Respect” will showcase Haley’s perspectives on major national and international matters, along with other insights into her time in the Trump administration.
The book is set to be released on Tuesday.

South Korea says U.S. working ‘very actively’ to restart talks with North Korea

South Korean officials are saying the U.S. is working ‘very actively’ in an effort to restart denuclearization talks with the Korean peninsula.
South Korea’s National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong said Sunday that North Korea is reportedly taking the one-year negotiating deadline with the Trump administration very seriously.
The adviser went on to say that a third summit will only be possible if substantial progress is made during talks with high-ranking officials.
“Only if talks between high-rank officials happen and lead to substantial progress, will the third North Korea-United States summit be possible,” stated Chung Eui-yong. “As you know, the North side has shown the year-end deadline — considering that position of the North Korean side, we are closely coordinating with the U.S. side.”
This comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un imposed a year-end deadline back in April for the U.S. to demonstrate flexibility on negotiations. North Korean officials said the deadline would be a mistake to ignore.

President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Just last week, North Korea fired two projectiles into its eastern sea. This was their 13th weapons test this year and the first since the Trump administration’s latest attempts to restart negotiations stalled.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has downplayed the launches, saying they were consistent with Pyongyang’s previous moves. He said progress has been “far too slow” and added he hopes to reach a good outcome in the months ahead.
“It has, for an awfully long time, told its people that those nuclear weapons were the thing that kept them secure,” stated Pompeo. “They now need to shift to the narrative, which is: those are the things that put them at risk.”
President Trump has met three times with Kim Jong Un in hopes of sealing a potentially historic denuclearization deal. He continues to express optimism about brokering an agreement.
“Kim Jong Un has been pretty straight with me, I think,” stated the president. “He likes testing missiles, but we never restricted short range missiles.”

Biden-Ukraine Cartoons

AP sources: Former Trump adviser John Bolton has a book deal

Go figure :-)

NEW YORK (AP) — Former national security adviser John Bolton has a book deal, The Associated Press has learned.

The hawkish Bolton departed in September because of numerous foreign policy disagreements with President Donald Trump. He reached a deal over the past few weeks with Simon & Schuster, according to three publishing officials with knowledge of negotiations. The officials were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two of the officials said the deal was worth about $2 million. Bolton was represented by the Javelin literary agency, whose clients include former FBI Director James Comey and the anonymous Trump administration official whose book, “A Warning,” comes out Nov. 19.

The publishing officials did not know the title or release date. Simon & Schuster declined comment Saturday and Javelin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolton’s 2007 book, “Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad,” was published by the conservative Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions.

Bolton’s name has come up often recently during the House impeachment inquiry , which has focused on Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, the former vice president.

In a transcript of a closed-door interview released Friday, a former national security official described how Bolton had “immediately stiffened” as Ambassador Gordon Sondland “blurted out” that he had worked out a trade — Ukrainians’ probe for an Oval Office welcome for Ukraine’s new president — with Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney.

Fiona Hill said Bolton later told her that “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up” and asked her to relay that message to a White House lawyer.

Meanwhile, a letter from Bolton’s attorney to the top lawyer for the House alleges that Bolton was “part of many relevant meetings and conversations” pertaining to the House impeachment inquiry of Trump that are not yet public.

The attorney, Charles Cooper, suggests Bolton will appear before Congress only if a judge orders him to do so.

Appointed in April 2018, Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser and is known for advocating military action abroad, a viewpoint Trump has resisted. In a speech in late September to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, given after he left the administration, Bolton offered a far more aggressive approach to North Korea’s nuclear program than the one advocated by Trump, who has spoken warmly about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Every day that goes by makes North Korea a more dangerous country,” Bolton said. “You don’t like their behavior today, what do you think it will be when they have nuclear weapons that can be delivered to American cities?”