Contradicting Trump, Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze Before It Became Public

[ffr]

To Democrats who say that President Trump’s decision to freeze a $391 million military aid package to Ukraine was intended to bully Ukraine’s leader into carrying out investigations for Mr. Trump’s political benefit, the president and his [axis of evil] have had a simple response: There could not have been any quid pro quo because the Ukrainians did not know the assistance had been blocked...saying neither Mr. Taylor nor any other witness had “provided testimony that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld.”
<snip>

Mr. Taylor told the impeachment investigators that it was only on the sidelines of a Sept. 1 meeting in Warsaw between Mr. Zelensky and Vice President Mike Pence that the Ukrainians were directly told the aid would be dependent on Mr. Zelensky giving Mr. Trump something he wanted: an investigation into Burisma, the company that had employed Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son.
<snip>

“There was no blackmail,” Mr. Zelensky said at a news conference earlier this month. He cited as evidence that he “had no idea the military aid was held up” at the time of his July 25 call with Mr. Trump, when Mr. Trump pressed him for investigations into the Bidens and a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukrainian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee in 2016.

Mr. Zelensky has said he knew about the hold up of the military aid before his meeting in Poland on Sept. 1 with Mr. Pence, but has been vague about exactly when he learned about it. “When I did find out, I raised it with Pence at a meeting in Warsaw,” he said this month. - NY Times

Full stop! So then VP Mike Pence had the July 25th call transcript given to him on July 26th by his aide who listened in on tRump's phone call, then those notes were also added to his notes to discuss with Zelensky in Poland, AND Zelensky raised the 'hold up of military aid during his meeting with VP Mike Pence?'

WAIT! From a guy who regularly shares meals one-on-one with tRump and is one of tRump's two foreign policy guys not to have known of the extortion is completely implausible.

How many ways to Sunday was Mike Pence made aware of the hold up of military aide tied to "corruption" and how many other instances were there, yet he didn't direct these crimes to the FBI?

The text messages between Mr. Volker, Mr. Sondland and the top Zelensky aide did not mention the hold up of the aid. It was only in September, after the Warsaw meeting, that Mr. Taylor wrote in a text message to Mr. Sondland, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations, Ukrainian officials, including their national security adviser and defense minister, were troubled by their inability to get answers to questions about the freeze from United States officials, Mr. Taylor testified.

After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations
After being informed on Sept. 1 in Warsaw that the aid would be released only if Mr. Zelensky agreed to the investigations

Who informed Zelensky on Sept 1 in Warsaw????????

Vice President Mike Pence.

[gratuitous]

1. Nobody misses a check like someone expecting it

Congress authorized the aid package to Ukraine in September 2018. Does anyone seriously think Ukraine didn't notice that aid hadn't arrived by May 2019?

[ritapria]

2. Thanks for pointing that out

[ffr]

3. It would seem we're not alone in noticing it.

US diplomat: Trump linked Ukraine aid to demand for probe
The account reaches to the highest levels of the administration, drawing in Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and slices at the core of the Republican defense of the administration and the president’s insistence of no wrongdoing.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212613554