of the President had put a hold on all security assistance to the Ukraine.”327 Ambassador Taylor testified that the “directive had come from the President to the Chief of Staff to OMB” and that when he learned of the hold on military assistance, he “realized that one of the key pillars of our strong support for Ukraine was threatened.”328
According to Ms. Croft, when Mr. Kent raised the issue of security assistance, it “blew up the meeting.”329 Ambassador Taylor testified that he and others on the call “sat in astonishment” when they learned about the hold.330 David Holmes, Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, was also on the call. He testified he was “shocked” and thought the hold was “extremely significant.”331 He thought the hold undermined what he had understood to be longstanding U.S. policy in Ukraine.332
Ms. Croft testified that “the only reason given was that the order came at the direction of the President.”333 Ms. Cooper, who did not participate but received a readout of the meeting, testified that the fact that the hold was announced without explanation was “unusual.”334 Mr. Kent testified that “[t]here was great confusion among the rest of us because we didn’t understand why that had happened.”335 He explained that “[s]ince there was unanimity that this [security assistance to Ukraine] was in our national interest, it just surprised all of us.”336
With the exception of OMB, all agencies present at the July 18 meeting advocated for the lifting of the hold.337
There was also a lack of clarity as to whether the hold applied only to the State Department-administered Foreign Military Financing to Ukraine or whether it also applied to the DOD-administered Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding.338 Ms. Cooper and her colleagues at the DOD were “concerned” about the hold.339 After the meeting, DOD sought further clarification from the NSC and State Department about its impact on the DOD-administered funding.340 However, there was no “specific guidance for DOD at the time.”341
The second interagency meeting to discuss the hold on Ukraine security assistance was held at the Assistant Secretary level (i.e., a “Policy Coordination Committee”) on July 23, 2019.342 The meeting was chaired by Mr. Morrison.343 Ms. Cooper, who participated via secure video teleconference, testified that “the White House chief of staff ha[d] conveyed that the President has concerns about Ukraine and Ukraine security assistance.”334 Jennifer Williams, Special Advisor to Vice President Pence for Europe and Eurasia, who also attended the meeting on behalf of the Vice President, testified that the “OMB representative conveyed that they had been directed by the Chief of Staff, the White House Chief of Staff, to continue holding it [the Ukraine security assistance] until further notice.”345 Similar to the July 18 meeting, the July 23 meeting did not provide clarity about whether the President’s hold applied to the DOD-administered funding or only to the funds administered by the State Department.346
Again, no reason was provided for the hold.347 Mr. Sandy did not attend the July 23 meeting as the representative for OMB, but he received a readout that other agencies expressed concerns about the hold. Specifically, the concerns related to the lack of rationale for the hold, the hold’s implications on U.S. assistance and “overall policy toward Ukraine” and “similar legal questions.”348
73
