Two White House budget officials resigned over Ukraine aid freeze, witness says – live
Office took steps to withhold funds from Ukraine on same day as Trump’s call with president, according to testimony
It’s been a rough news day for Pete Buttigieg.
First, he came under fire for saying in 2011 that people of color undervalued education. Now, a HuffPost piece has revealed that the political action committee he launched in 2017 to boost other Democrats mostly boosted his own presidential bid.
The PAC had done relatively little to help Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections, when the party waged its hard-fought battle to win control of the U.S. House. But it had paid significant sums to a host of Democratic consultants and staffers to promote Buttigieg’s image. Of the slightly more than $400,000 Buttigieg raised for the PAC, it donated just $37,000 to other Democratic candidates.
At the same time, the PAC paid nearly $70,000 to Lis Smith, who served as Buttigieg’s spokesperson and became the communications director for his presidential bid. Another $27,500 went to Michael Schmuhl, who served as the PAC’s treasurer and is now Buttigieg’s campaign manager. The PAC’s finance director received $34,500. A top Democratic media consulting was paid $28,500.
White House Office of Management and Budget official Mark Sandy responded “Yes” when asked if anyone in the office’s legal department resigned due to the administration’s freeze of Ukrainian security assistance.
“This person expressed to me concerns about actions vis-à-vis the Impoundment Control Act,” Sandy said, referring to a law that prevents the president from unilaterally withholding Congressionally allocated funds for extended periods.