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Cooper is currently believed to be voluntarily appearing before the three House committees leading the Democratic impeachment inquiry and the Pentagon has not yet sought to block her testimony. She will be accompanied by a personal lawyer, according to defense officials.
As a top official overseeing US policy towards Ukraine, Cooper would have been involved with overseeing US military assistance to Kiev, assistance such as the $250 million aid package that was frozen by the Trump Administration despite the Pentagon’s recommendation that it go forward.
What motivated the White House to order that freeze has formed a central part of the impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s chief legal officer requested that Defense Department agencies identify, preserve and collect any and all documents relating to the provision of security assistance to Kiev.
Cooper first joined the Department of Defense in 2001. She held a series of posts at the Pentagon before taking on her current assignment.
She has been a vocal advocate for US support for Ukraine in the face of what she called the “threat from Russia,” telling an audience during a 2018 visit there that “going forward, the US intends to continue providing security assistance support to Ukraine across all domains, including maritime, by providing equipment to support its most critical operational needs.”
Her visit came shortly after Russian military forces seized Ukrainian vessels and sailors in the Kerch Strait.
“I want to be clear that the United States will remain committed to building the capacity of Ukraine’s military, to include its naval forces,” she added, citing progress Ukraine’s government had made in reforms as the reason the US would continue supporting its military.
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