There are two relevant budgetary statutes that are implicated by Trump withholding military aid for Ukraine: apportionment authority and the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). While this violation of budgetary laws is not the most significant attack on the rule of law related to Trump’s Ukrainian extortion campaign, it is an important part of the broader case for impeachment. Finally, it shows that it was not policy or legal concerns that led to the money being released, but rather the fear of getting caught. The illegality of the hold also undermines the claim that Trump was concerned about Ukrainian corruption, since he was willing to break U.S. It shows that the Trump White House created an irregular budgetary process to match its irregular foreign policy process with respect to Ukraine. The illegality of the funding hold is important to the impeachment inquiry, as it adds further weight to the case that Trump abused his authority as president to pressure Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 U.S. Moreover, Trump’s own White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was told that his actions were illegal, and appears to have tacitly acknowledged that fact, but continued to hold up the funding anyway. Instead, they’ve offered justifications that are more politically palatable. Even Trump’s defenders in the House, who have speciously claimed that the president had reasons for holding the aid other than pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, have not provided justifications that are legal. No one from the Trump administration has been able to point to any legal authority that allowed Trump to withhold the funding for the length of time and in the manner that he did. As the House impeachment inquiry continues to uncover substantial evidence of Trump’s abuses of power, one thing has become clear: President Donald Trump illegally withheld military aid to Ukraine.
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