Todays proceedings. I would like to recap my recognition of the timeline in which these events played out. I testified about all of this at length in my deposition. In july, i became aware of a hold being an obligation of the State Departments Foreign Military financing and dods usai funds. In a series of interagency meetings, i heard that the president had directed the office of of management and budget to hold the funds becausf his concerns about corruption in ukraine. Let me say at the outset that i have never discussed this or any other matter with the president and never heard directly from him about this matter. At a senior level meeting i attended on july 26, chaired by National Security council leadership, as at all other interagency meetings on this topic of which i was aware, the National Security community
expressed unanimous support for resuming the funding as in the u. S. National security interest. At the july 26 meeting, there was a discussion of how ukrainian anticorrup
expressed unanimous support for resuming the funding as in the u.s. national security interest. at the july 26 meeting, there was a discussion of how ukrainian anticorruption efforts were making progress. dod reiterated what we had said in our earlier certification to congress, stating that sufficient progress in defense reform including anticorruption had occurred to justify the usai spending. i and others at the interagency meetings felt the matter was particularly urgent because it takes time to obligate that amount of money, and my understanding was that the money was legally required to be obligated by september 30, the end of the fiscal year. in the ensuing weeks, until the hold was released on september 11, i pursue three tracks. first, starting on july 31, and at interagency meetings, i made clear to interagency leadership my understanding that once dod