A top Defense Department official who internally raised concerns about freezing military aid to Ukraine is stepping down, CNN and Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon John Rood authored emails pushing for the aid to be released, according to CNN.
President Trump’s July order to halt the aid was the focus of the recent impeachment proceedings, which ended this month in a Senate acquittal vote. Rood is one of several administration officials caught up in the Ukraine mess who have since left the administration or were otherwise ousted from their positions.
Rood was pressured by his national security superiors to resign, according to the reports. Bloomberg News reported that Trump officials believed he was not executing the President’s agenda quickly enough because he did not fully agree with the policies.
TPM’s inquiries with the National Security Council and the Pentagon were not immediately returned.
