Also see:
“How could diplomats covering Ukraine or even stationed in Ukraine have no idea that there is a treaty on this very topic?
None of these “experts” are aware that the U.S.A. and Ukraine signed a treaty requiring exactly that. In previous articles at Canada Free Press: “Trump Urging Ukrainian Probe of Biden Breaks No Laws” and “QUID PRO FAUX: Treaty Invalidates Impeachment”, we saw how Trump’s congratulatory phone call to newly-elected President of the Ukraine Vlodymyr Zelensky could not be a quid-pro-quo because of the “Treaty Between the United States of America and Ukraine on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters,” that President William Clinton negotiated. The U.S. Senate ratified it in 2000, before Clinton left office.
How could diplomats covering Ukraine or even stationed in Ukraine have no idea that there is a treaty on this very topic? They were outraged that Trump asked another nation to investigate a U.S. citizen. That’s what the treaty says.
But mainly they accuse that Trump was required to disburse funds for military assistance to the Ukraine appropriated by Congress. But the brief 58-day review by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney violated no law or regulation. The accusation assumes that there was some specific day of the year on which the money was supposed to be processed.
The fiscal year ends on September 30. There is no particular day within the fiscal year when Trump was required to cut a check. Federal funds don’t get spent the moment Congress passes an appropriations bill or a President signs it. Money for Ukraine “obligated” up to midnight on September 30 is just as timely as on any other day in the fiscal year. No delay occurred within the concepts of government budgeting, because no deadline existed.”
https://canadafreepress.com/article/no-deadline-existed-in-trumps-brief-delay-of-ukraine-funds
Link to Ukraine - US treaty: https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/16/document-text
Federal Agency: White House Violated Law by Withholding Military Aid to Ukraine
by JOSHUA CAPLAN16 Jan 2020
FTA:
The White House violated the law by temporarily withholding U.S. military aid to Ukraine, said a Government Accountability Office report published on Thursday.
Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law. 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,” it concluded.
The Office of Management and Budget placed a hold on the aid on July 25, “pending a policy decision,” and was lifted on September 12, the office’s general counsel Mark Paoletta has said. Paoletta wrote in a December letter to the GAO that the hold was a “programmatic delay,” and thus, Congress did not require prior notice of the move.
The OMB issued a statement in response to the report’s findings, reaffirming that the hold was appropriate.
“We disagree with GAO’s opinion. OMB uses its apportionment authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President’s priorities and with the law,” OMB spokeswoman Rachel Semmel said.