A new batch of unredacted emails shows the White House Office of Management and Budget misled congressional investigators about administration actions toward Ukraine.
The Trump administration had already released redacted versions of those emails Jan. 22 to the nonprofit group American Oversight under a court order, but Just Security obtained unredacted versions of the documents under the condition that they not be reprinted.
The emails “confirm that OMB, including the general counsel’s office, was fully in the loop about the Pentagon’s concerns and took active steps to bury them,” reported Just Security’s Kate Brannen.
The newly revealed documents also show that OMB lied to and misled the Government Accountability Office, a congressional investigative body, about President Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold Ukraine funding.
“OMB is continuing its efforts to keep its knowledge of the Pentagon’s legal worries a secret, blacking out the portions of the emails where DoD officials voiced their concerns and where OMB staffers acknowledged them,” Brannen reported. “The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Paoletta reviewed the redactions before the documents were released.”