Mick Mulvaney publicly confirms Trump held up Ukraine aid for political gain

Sonam Sheth

October 17, 2019 6:35 PM

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged Thursday that President Donald Trump held up a military-aid package to Ukraine in part because he wanted the Ukrainian government to investigate unfounded conspiracy theories related to the 2016 election.

mick mulvaney

Mulvaney said three factors drove the decision to withhold aid, including Trump's belief that Ukraine is a "corrupt place," and that other European countries don't contribute enough to its defense.
He also said: "Did he also mention to me the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about it. But that's it. That's why we held up the money."
Mulvaney's statement is the first public acknowledgment from an administration official that Trump held up Ukraine's security assistance in part for his own political gain.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

This story is breaking. Check back for updates.

Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff, publicly confirmed that part of the reason Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine was that he wanted the Ukrainian government to investigate a conspiracy theory related to the 2016 election.

Mulvaney acknowledged the quid pro quo during a press conference Thursday, in which he explained the factors that contributed to Trump's decision to withhold aid.

Mulvaney said Trump told him that he believed Ukraine was a "corrupt place" and that he didn't want to "send them a bunch of money." He also said the president was concerned that other European countries weren't doing their fair share to contribute to Ukraine's defense.

Then, he added, "Did he also mention to me the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about it. But that's it. That's why we held up the money."

ABC News' Jonathan Karl immediately followed up and asked Mulvaney to confirm that "the demand for an investigation into the Democrats was part of the reason to withhold funding to Ukraine."

Mulvaney replied affirmatively, saying, "The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing, and he was worried about corruption in that nation."

NOW WATCH: 7 secrets about Washington, DC landmarks you probably didn't know