"Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election," Mulvaney said in a statement on Thursday. "The president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server... There never was any condition on the flow of the aid related to the matter of the DNC server."
Mulvaney said US funding was held due to a concern of the lack of support from other nations to Ukraine and concerns over corruption in the country.
Earlier on Thursday, Mulvaney said the temporary hold on Ukraine security assistance was related to a demand for an investigation into Democrats tied to the 2016 US election scandal surrounding a server with the DNC.
"Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that," Mulvaney said during the briefing. "But that's it. That's why we held up the money."
Mulvaney was asked to clarify if statement and he said it was "absolutely appropriate" to withhold the security assistance to Ukraine because of concerns of corruption there.
