Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen Calls For GAO's Independent Legal Opinion Over Trump Withholding Ukraine Aid
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is calling on the U.S. Government Accountability Office to provide its legal analysis into whether the Trump Administration's withholding of aid to Ukraine violated the law.
In a nine-page letter to the GAO sent Monday, the Democratic senator asked the agency to share its analysis of whether the administration's withholding of the aid violated the Impoundment Control Act, which requires the president to notify the Senate and House of Representatives as to how much money they want to defer and the reasons for doing so.
In the letter, Van Hollen argued the president had not done so and said the GAO told him on October 30 it would review the withholding and issue a legal opinion.
"The Administration has failed to even state a legal reason under the ICA for its withholding of security assistance for Ukraine, and the evidence refutes the Administration's stated reasons. The Administration must be held accountable for its violations of the ICA, or we will open the floodgates for this and future Administrations to violate the ICA with impunity," Van Hollen wrote.
The controversy over the decision to withhold aid from the European country and President Trump's request for the Ukranian leader to look into corruption linked to a company with ties to presidential candidate Joe Biden's son Hunter led the Democratic-controlled House to impeach the president last week.
