SummerMadness

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Government Accountability Office Says Trump Administration Broke Law in Withholding Ukraine Aid
The Trump administration violated the law in withholding security assistance aid to Ukraine, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency said on Thursday, weighing in on a decision by President Trump that is at the heart of the impeachment case against him.

The Government Accountability Office said the White House’s Office of Management and Budget violated the Impoundment Control Act when it withheld nearly $400 million for “a policy reason,” even though the funds had been allocated by Congress. The decision was directed by the president himself, and during the House impeachment inquiry, administration officials testified that they had raised concerns about its legality to no avail.

“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the G.A.O. wrote. “The withholding was not a programmatic delay.”

The impoundment law limits a president’s power to withhold money that has been allocated by Congress, requiring that he secure approval by the legislative branch if he wishes to do so.
 

grasping the after wind

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If the Accountants in the accounting office's legal opinion is a correct one ( if the office is people by lawyers then it is no wonder all their economic predictions seem to be completely off), then I suppose Biden was threatening to break the law when he threatened to withhold aid for "a policy reason " and implied Obama supported the idea . That would have made Obama an accessory if the Ukrainian had not capitulated and the aid been withheld as a result. Just about every President we have had has broken that pesky law by withholding aid from one country or another for "a policy reason" .
 
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GoldenBoy89

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If the Accountants in the accounting office's legal opinion is a correct one ( if the office is people by lawyers then it is no wonder all their economic predictions seem to be completely off), then I suppose Biden was threatening to break the law when he threatened to withhold aid for "a policy reason " and implied Obama supported the idea . That would have made Obama an accessory if the Ukrainian had not capitulated and the aid been withheld as a result. Just about every President we have had has broken that pesky law by withholding aid from one country or another for "a policy reason" .
That just means those presidents coulda been impeached but weren’t.

Oh well, no reason to let this one get away with it.
 
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Speedwell

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If the Accountants in the accounting office's legal opinion is a correct one ( if the office is people by lawyers then it is no wonder all their economic predictions seem to be completely off), then I suppose Biden was threatening to break the law when he threatened to withhold aid for "a policy reason " and implied Obama supported the idea . That would have made Obama an accessory if the Ukrainian had not capitulated and the aid been withheld as a result. Just about every President we have had has broken that pesky law by withholding aid from one country or another for "a policy reason" .
But they may not have actually broken the law in doing so. It's a question of how the President goes about it.
 
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But they may not have actually broken the law in doing so. It's a question of how the President goes about it.

Unless the Congress has given approval, according to the accountants at GAO the president has broken the law. Perhaps it is ok if the President is only trying to make a better life for the people in the countries he is withholding aid from?
 
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That just means those presidents coulda been impeached but weren’t.

Oh well, no reason to let this one get away with it.

I'm sure the next president will be impeached for the smallest breach of the letter of the law as the law is interpreted by the accountants at the GAO as soon as possible as well.
 
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GoldenBoy89

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I'm sure the next president will be impeached for the smallest breach of the letter of the law as the law is interpreted by the accountants at the GAO as soon as possible as well.
Fine by me. Wouldn’t more accountability of the executive be a good thing?
 
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That just means those presidents coulda been impeached but weren’t.

Oh well, no reason to let this one get away with it.

I think you'll find even if it's defined Trump messed up on this one point the question asked does it rise to the high level of an impeachable offence. I'd hardly think so and I think the Senate would agree.
 
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Unless the Congress has given approval, according to the accountants at GAO the president has broken the law. Perhaps it is ok if the President is only trying to make a better life for the people in the countries he is withholding aid from?
That certainly would not let Donald off the hook. Withholding the aid in order to get the country's president to announce an investigation into the son of a political rival is not trying to make a better life for the people in that country.
 
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wing2000

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“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the G.A.O. wrote. “The withholding was not a programmatic delay.”

Will the White House Defense team finally answer why Trump ordered the aid to be withheld?
 
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Bobber

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Fine by me. Wouldn’t more accountability of the executive be a good thing?
GB you'd be talking about issues which can be no more than a technical glitch a President would need to be reminded of. So you want to rip a country a part every time something like that occurs? Who would be laughing at that? Probably all America's enemies for sure. They'd be saying we don't have to conquer them they do it themselves and the clock is ticking on just how much longer they can last. That is by the way how many countries view the US when it comes to political correctness. Many view it as a society that people are afraid to communicate anything for fear somebody might take offence.
 
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SummerMadness

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If the Accountants in the accounting office's legal opinion is a correct one ( if the office is people by lawyers then it is no wonder all their economic predictions seem to be completely off), then I suppose Biden was threatening to break the law when he threatened to withhold aid for "a policy reason " and implied Obama supported the idea . That would have made Obama an accessory if the Ukrainian had not capitulated and the aid been withheld as a result. Just about every President we have had has broken that pesky law by withholding aid from one country or another for "a policy reason" .
Classic whataboutism and also unrelated. Biden never threatened to break the law and his policy reason had nothing to do with personal gain. Trump broke the law by actually withholding aid for his own personal gain. Kindly stay on-topic.
 
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grasping the after wind

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Classic whataboutism and also unrelated. Biden never threatened to break the law and his policy reason had nothing to do with personal gain. Trump broke the law by actually withholding aid for his own personal gain. Kindly stay on-topic.

That is not what the accountants at the GAO said. they specifically said it was unlawful to withhold aid for "a policy reason" not for personal gain. BTW no one has been abole to provide evidence that Trump would gain anything personally from withholding aid. So if they are right, and the criterion is not mine but theirs, then Biden did indeed threaten to break the law.

Whataboutism- when the other side points out your side's hypocrisy.
 
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wing2000

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That is not what the accountants at the GAO said. they specifically said it was unlawful to withhold aid for "a policy reason" not for personal gaoin. BTW no one has been abole to provide evidence that Trump would gain anything personally form withholding aid. . So if they are right then Biden did indeed threaten to break the law.

Whataboutism- when the other side points out your side's hypocrisy.

What policy reason? That has not been answered to date. The aid was cleared by at least two major departments.....to date, the Executive branch has yet to articulate a reason....nor convey it to the Congress as would normally be done.

As for Biden, he was carrying out the official policy at the time, supported by US and European governments.... The false comparison is absurd.
 
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What policy reason? That has not been answered to date. The aid was cleared by at least two major departments.....to date, the Executive branch has yet to articulate a reason....nor convey it to the Congress as would normally be done.

As for Biden, he was carrying out the official policy at the time, supported by US and European governments.... The false comparison is absurd.

The accountants at the GAO say the president cannot lawfully withhold aid for policy reasons. That is why they say Trump was breaking the law and you seem to agree that Biden was threatening to withhold aid for policy reasons so, if the accountant's interpretation of the law is correct, then he was absolutely threatening to break the law no matter how official the policy reason was or who else wanted the law to be broken and supported it.
 
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SummerMadness

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The accountants at the GAO say the president cannot lawfully withhold aid for policy reasons. That is why they say Trump was breaking the law and you seem to agree that Biden was threatening to withhold aid for policy reasons so, if the accountant's interpretation of the law is correct, then he was absolutely threatening to break the law no matter how official the policy reason was or who else wanted the law to be broken and supported it.
Biden is not the topic and it is not even applicable to this case where the president sought to withhold funds for personal gain.
 
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Biden is not the topic and it is not even applicable to this case where the president sought to withhold funds for personal gain.

The GAO does not accuse him of that so bringing up personal gain is off topic.
 
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wing2000

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The accountants at the GAO say the president cannot lawfully withhold aid for policy reasons. That is why they say Trump was breaking the law and you seem to agree that Biden was threatening to withhold aid for policy reasons so, if the accountant's interpretation of the law is correct, then he was absolutely threatening to break the law no matter how official the policy reason was or who else wanted the law to be broken and supported it.

If a President has objections to aid, he can raise his objection to Congress. That did not happen.
 
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