A "POTUS-level decision." This is the inside story of President Trump's demand to halt military assistance to Ukraine, and the price he was willing to pay to carry out his agenda.
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nyti.ms/2SA4L6f
For top officials inside the Office of Management and Budget, the first warning of what was to come landed on June 19. Rob Blair, a top aide in the White House chief of staff's office, called after being informed that the president had a problem with the aid. 
8 days later, the acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, aboard Air Force One with Trump on their way to a summit, dashed off an email to Washington to ask about the status of the freeze. nyti.ms/2SA4L6f
Yes, the security aid could likely be stopped, Blair replied to Mulvaney. But there would be consequences. nyti.ms/2SA4L6f
Both Mulvaney and Blair have declined to cooperate with impeachment investigators. Mulvaney told associates he stepped away whenever Trump spoke with Rudy Giuliani and thus had little knowledge about their Ukraine efforts. Fiona Hill's congressional testimony has disputed that.
By mid-August, White House aides were searching for a legal rationale to continue the freeze on the aid into the fall. Facing a deadline from the Pentagon, Mulvaney attempted to schedule a call with Trump. He was out that morning playing golf.
Tensions grew quickly between those working to execute the hold on military aid and the Pentagon. In September, after the freeze had become public and scrutiny was increasing, the blame game inside the administration was in full swing. nyti.ms/2SA4L6f
It wasn't just career professionals who opposed the freeze. In the Oval Office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and National Security Adviser John Bolton had made the case to Trump that freeing up the money was the right thing to do. He refused again.
.@EricLiptonNYT, @maggieNYT, and @MarkMazzettiNYT reported this story with interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials and aides, previously undisclosed emails, and thousands of pages of impeachment testimony. Read the full story:
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nyti.ms/2SA4L6f
