Article snippet: The House Intelligence Committee released a transcript of Sandy’s closed-door deposition on Tuesday afternoon, which had not been made available before recent public hearings in the impeachment inquiry. Sandy testified that Trump began asking questions about the aid on June 19. He learned about the president’s decision to withhold the aid on July 18th, when he returned from leave. He sought advice from the OMB counsel, because the terms of the Impoundment Control Act set a limit to how long funds could be held. When he asked for the reason for the hold, his supervisor did not know, nor did anyone else. Finally, he said, there was an email in early September that explained the reasoning: “I recall in early September an email that attributed the hold to the President’s concern about other countries not contributing more to Ukraine.” That was after a Politico article in late August revealing the existence of the hold, but before the transcript of the president’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was declassified and released on Sep. 25. Sandy added that OMB officials had been asked to provide information “on what other countries were contributing to Ukraine.” He later testified that he could not recall a case where aid had been withheld for as long without a clear reason, though other witnesses had testified that aid to Lebanon was held up at the same time for unknown reasons. The first written “apportionment” restricting the funds was issued on... Link to the full article to read more