The White House Won’t Release 20 New Ukraine-Related Emails

A judge may compel the administration to turn them over.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump rally in Lexington, Kentucky on November 4, 2019. Paul Boucher/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The Trump administration has refused to turn over 20 previously undisclosed emails about the freeze on security aid to Ukraine that is now at the center of the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Now a federal judge may decide whether the public will get to see them.

The New York Times filed a public records request and then a lawsuit for emails between a top aide to acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Robert Blair, and Michael Duffey, the Office of Management and Budget official in charge of releasing security assistance for Ukraine. On Friday, the White House refused. It acknowledged the emails but declined to turn them over, even in a redacted format, arguing that they are protected by public record law exemptions for disclosures that would “inhibit the frank and candid exchange of views that is necessary for effective government decision-making.” In response, the Times plans to ask the judge, DC federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson, to swiftly compel the documents’ release.

The documents—whether released or not—are likely to play a role in the Senate’s impeachment deliberations. Central to the question of whether Trump should remain in office is whether he abused his power for personal gain—in particular, withheld crucial security aide in hopes of extracting politically-damaging investigations against a political opponent. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing for documents and witness testimony to be considered during the trial and has named both Blair and Duffey as key witnesses that should testify. 

This request has deadlocked negotiations over how the Senate trial will unfold. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not committed to calling witnesses and announced instead that he will coordinate with the White House on how to proceed. It remains unclear when the Senate will begin its trial. 

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate