In defense of Ukraine
By Tatiana Prophet
Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine in February 2014.
In the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Democrats have pointed to lethal defensive aid for Ukraine that was held up by the President as a clear example of abuse of power.
According to a Government Accountability Office decision released Jan. 16, 2020, President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) violated the law when he ordered a pause in lethal aid to Ukraine that was authorized by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2019.
“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the decision stated. “OMB withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). The withholding was not a programmatic delay. Therefore, we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.”
What happened, and what did Trump delay sending? In the bill, Congress had appropriated $250 million “to provide assistance, including training; equipment; lethal assistance; logistics support, supplies and services; sustainment; and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine.” This stops short of the “anti-tank” and “anti-armor” weapons appropriated for Ukraine in a 2014 bipartisan bill called the “Ukraine Freedom Support Act.”
But unlike the aid for 2019, the specific weapons in the 2014 bill never arrived. It was not until 2017 that Ukraine actually received anti-tank weapons. President Trump authorized javelin anti-tank rocket launchers to be delivered to the Ukrainian army, and they arrived in 2018.
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