A new report exposing unredacted Defense Department emails is fueling a push by Democratic leaders to summon witnesses to President Trump’s impeachment trial.
“The American people deserve a fair trial that gets to the truth, not a rigged process that enables a cover-up,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Thursday.
Recommended Stories
Democrats want the GOP Senate majority to agree to call several Trump administration officials to testify at a Senate trial that will weigh two articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, won’t agree to Schumer’s witness list and wants the Senate to start the trial and decide on witnesses later.
Schumer pointed to new reports that he said bolster the case that more witnesses are needed to show Trump improperly blocked the delivery of $391 million in security aid to Ukraine.
The latest report, from the liberal group Just Security, reveals an email on Aug. 30 from Michael Duffey, the associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget to the Pentagon, in which Duffey calls the delayed security aid a “clear direction” from Trump.
Just Security viewed the contents of other redacted emails that operatives said “reveal growing concern from Pentagon officials that the hold would violate the Impoundment Control Act, which requires the executive branch to spend money as appropriated by Congress, and that the necessary steps to avoid this result weren’t being taken.”
Schumer said Thursday the email strengthens the case for Duffey and others in the administration to testify before the Senate.
“The newly revealed unredacted emails are a devastating blow to Senator McConnell’s push to have a trial without the documents and witnesses we’ve requested,” Schumer said. “These emails further expose the serious concerns raised by Trump administration officials about the propriety and legality of the president’s decision to cut off aid to Ukraine to benefit himself.”
The Senate reconvenes on Friday. McConnell and Schumer are likely to meet again to try to work out the terms of an impeachment trial, which was supposed to begin in January.
