Trump Impeachment: Ukraine Was Worried About US Aid Holdup On Day Of Controversial Call, Says Official

Ukraine in July voiced concern over a US aid holdup signalling that it was aware of the freeze at the time of a controversial telephone call with President Donald Trump. Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official in charge of the country, testified to Congress that Ukraine reached out on July 25, the very day that Trump spoke to his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a call that triggered an impeachment inquiry. Cooper said she received emails on July 25 saying that both the Ukrainian embassy in Washington and the House Foreign Affairs Committee were asking about the assistance.

Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry over claims that Trump pressured Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to look into what the US leader said were corrupt business deals involving Biden.

“I would say that, specifically, the Ukrainian embassy staff asked, ‘What is going on with Ukrainian security assistance?” Cooper said.

Asked by Representative Adam Schiff if the Ukrainians had been “concerned,” Cooper replied, “Yes, sir.”

Cooper said that her staff received the emails on July 25 and that she had not been personally briefed on them until she conducted research in preparation for her congressional appearance.

Last week, Donald Trump dubbed the impeachment proceedings against him as a "double standard never seen" in US history. This came after US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch deposed before the Congressional panel on the second day of impeachment hearings. “A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country,” Trump tweeted as Yovanovitch was grilled on president's interaction with Ukrainians.

Asserting that he has done no wrong, Trump released transcripts of his first phone to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his electoral victory.

According to the ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Monday, slim majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Fifty-one per cent of those asked said they think Trump should be tried and convicted in the US Senate, while another six per cent favour impeachment but not removal, according to the poll. The ABC-Ipsos poll suggested as well a drop in the number of people opposing impeachment, to 38 per cent, compared to the FiveThirtyEight average of about 46 per cent.