Pentagon Letter Undercuts Trump Assertion On Delaying Aid To Ukraine Over Corruption

David Welna

September 25, 2019 / 3:00 pm

caption: President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday in New York, where they were attending the U.N. General Assembly meeting.

Earlier this week, President Trump cited concerns about corruption as his rationale for blocking security assistance to Ukraine. But in a letter sent to four congressional committees in May of this year and obtained by NPR, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood informs lawmakers that he has "certified that the Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption [and] increasing accountability."

The certification was required by law for the release of $250 million in security assistance for Ukraine. That aid was blocked by the White House until Sept. 11 and has since been released. It must be spent before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Read the letter below or here.