Trump impeachment: White House admits aid held up partly over Democrats

2019-10-18 08:20:19

A senior White House official has admitted military aid to Ukraine was withheld partly to pressure Kyiv to investigate allegations on the Democrats and the 2016 election. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said President Donald Trump had mentioned Democratic "corruption". But Mr Trump was also concerned about wider corruption in Ukraine, he said. Mr Mulvaney later backtracked on his earlier remarks, saying the media had "decided to misconstrue my comments". Meanwhile, President Trump said he had "a lot of confidence" in Mr Mulvaney, describing him as "a good man". The question of whether military aid for Ukraine was withheld in exchange for a "quid pro quo" to investigate Donald Trump's political rivals is central to an impeachment inquiry against the president. The White House has denied any such conditions were imposed.