WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2019) Vice President Mike Pence advocated releasing $400 million in US military aid at a time when the assistance was being withheld by the Trump administration, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent told a House of Representatives impeachment inquiry.
"To the best of my understanding the vice president was an advocate for the release of the assistance," Kent said on Wednesday.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed directly to Pence in a September 1 conversation for a hold on military assistance to be lifted and Pence responded that he would phone Trump later in the day to relay the message and discuss the issue.
Neither Kent nor acting US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor could say whether Pence called the president, although Kent credited Pence with seeking to lift the hold.
Wednesday marked the first day of public hearings by House Democrats seeking evidence to impeach Trump over allegations he withheld military aid in exchange for a Trump-Zelenskyy meeting at the White House as well as a Ukrainian investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
