President Donald Trump speaks, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The military assistance for Ukraine that's at the center of President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry started as a mere line item in a massive spending bill.
The money was little discussed, was noncontroversial and was approved with strong bipartisan support.
So, lawmakers were mystified upon learning in August that the $391 million was held up. Trump had ordered the aid frozen, a decision carried out by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
One U.S. diplomat has told House impeachment investigators he learned the aid was being withheld in a July 18 conference call. The diplomat, William Taylor, said he was astonished by the decision.
The eventual release of the aid to Ukraine came only after senators were about to deliver an embarrassing rebuke of the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during talks with journalists in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. Ukrainian President is holding an all-day 'media marathon' in a Kyiv food court amid growing questions about his actions as president. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The Associated Press
Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, departs the Capitol after testifying in the Democrats' impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. Taylor testified behind closed doors that President Donald Trump was holding back military aid for Ukraine unless the country agreed to investigate Democrats and a company linked to Joe Biden, providing lawmakers with a detailed new account of the quid pro quo central to the impeachment probe. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, file photo, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney arrives to a news conference, in Washington. On Sunday, Oct. 20, on "Fox News Sunday," after acknowledging the Trump administration held up aid to Ukraine in part to prod the nation to investigate the 2016 elections, Mulvaney defended Trump's decision to hold an international meeting at his own golf club, although the president has now dropped that plan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2019, file photo, a White House-released memorandum of President Donald Trump's July 25, 2019, telephone conversation with Ukraine's newly elected president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, released Sept. 25, 2019. There were dozens of ears listening to President Donald Trump's 30-minute phone call with the leader of Ukraine that is at the center of a House impeachment inquiry, and as many eyes that saw what he said.(AP Photo/Wayne Partlow, File)
The Associated Press