The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With emails’ release, Dem senator presses for more documents
But the Republican Senate majority leader shows no signs that he will comply with the request.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says newly released emails showing that military aid to Ukraine was suspended 90 minutes after President Donald Trump demanded “a favor” from Ukraine’s president strengthen Democrats’ demands for more internal administration documents before Trump’s impeachment trial.
The emails, released to the Center for Public Integrity and made public over the weekend, included one from a White House budget office aide, Michael Duffey, telling Pentagon officials to keep quiet “given the sensitive nature of the request.”
What they’re saying
The timing of the email — just after Trump raised investigations of his Democratic rivals with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine — added an element to Democrats’ contentions that Trump abused the power of his office to help him win reelection in 2020.
“What happened over the weekend [the emails’ release] has only bolstered the case that documents should be produced and witnesses testify,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said at a news conference Monday.
In a letter to his Senate colleagues, Schumer listed records Democrats would like to see regarding the president’s interactions with Ukraine, including internal emails and documents from the White House, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, showed no sign that he would comply with Schumer’s request.
“Do you think Chuck Schumer is impartial?” McConnell asked during an appearance Monday morning on “Fox & Friends.” The Republican from Kentucky added: “So let’s quit the charade. This is a political exercise.”