At the impeachment trial, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, asked about the specific timing and reasoning behind President Donald Trump’s decision to place a hold on aid to Ukraine. Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin cited testimony in the record showing that officials were aware of the hold as of July 3, 2019, and that Trump had expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine even earlier. Philbin cited a June 24 email following up on questions the president had asked about the aid at that time, including what it had been used for, who funded it, and what other NATO members spend to support Ukraine. “From the very beginning of June, President Trump had expressed concern about burden sharing” among NATO members, said Philbin. Senators had their first chance to ask questions of the House managers and President Donald Trump’s legal team on Wednesday, Jan. 29. That came after both sides were given three days, respectively, to present their case. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in December on two articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The questions come ahead of a vote on whether to bring forward witnesses and documents as part of the Senate trial. The Senate must now decide whether to acquit the president or convict him of the charges and remove him from office. For more on who’s who in the Trump impeachment inquiry, read:
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