The Pentagon received its first official instruction to withhold military aid to Ukraine 90 minutes after a phone conversation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky took place on July 25. The timings follow from a series of emails obtained by the American non-governmental organization Center for Public Integrity (CPI) as a result of the court order.
The documents, amounting to 146 pages in total, contain correspondence between Pentagon officials and the White House Budget and Administration Service on providing military aid to Ukraine.
As CPI noted, most of the documents' text was covered with ink, making it difficult to see the details. The organization, however, noticed a large amount of evidence to support White House officials' concerns regarding the legality of placing a hold on aid to Ukraine. In particular, in their correspondence, the officials highlighted the lack of explanation for the delay and the mysteriousness of the entire process.
Specifically, an email from the White House official Mike Duffy talks about the order to withhold aid on the very same day that Donald Trump had a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process," Duffy wrote to the Pentagon on July 25.
This letter is dated from 1:04 pm on July 25, meaning it was sent 90 minutes after the two presidents had a call. A call that instigated the impeachment procedure.