Democrats ask Pentagon to probe delayed Ukraine aid

Senate Democrats called on the Department of Defense (DOD) to investigate delays in military aid to Ukraine amid allegations that President Trump attempted to make the aid conditional on an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

The aid was delayed until Sept. 11, which Trump has said was due to concerns about corruption in Ukraine. However, a May letter from the Pentagon indicated the department had certified the nation had taken action against corruption.

{mosads}“The delay would appear to have hindered the Department’s statutory obligation to provide security assistance to Ukraine at a critical moment, and raises serious questions about whether DoD officials were involved in any scheme to target a political opponent,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wrote in a letter to DOD acting Inspector General Glenn Fine. 

“As a result, it is imperative that your office pursue a thorough review of DoD’s potential role in these allegations, and provide your findings to the congressional defense committees in a timely manner,” he wrote.

The letter asks Fine to determine the answers to several questions, including why the Pentagon failed to execute funding in a timely manner, whether the Pentagon was told to slow or halt the dispersal of the funds, and whether anyone in the Pentagon was aware of any requests to halt the funds that were connected to “a political consideration by the President and his senior staff.”

The allegations have led to an outpouring of support for impeachment proceedings from congressional Democrats who had demurred on the subject before this week, including Durbin himself, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced an impeachment inquiry Tuesday afternoon.