ITHACA, NY (WSKG) - New York 23rd District Congressman Tom Reed disagrees with a recently released report that concluded the President violated a federal law by freezing aid to Ukraine in 2019.
Reed district covers part of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.
The report addresses one of the articles of impeachment being considered by the Senate. It is from the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan independent government watchdog agency.
The law the report refers to is the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
Reed said President Trump was justified to temporarily freeze aid to Ukraine.
He believes Trump did so to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars going toward funding potential corruption in Ukraine.
"I believe he had the right to potentially be safe rather than sorry and have the dollars leave without asking the questions of corruption," Reed said.
One of the articles of impeachment against President Trump is that he abused presidential power when he put a freeze on the aid to Ukraine.
The argument is that he did it to pressure the Ukrainian president to start an investigation into allegations of corruption former Vice President Joe Biden, one of Trump’s political rivals, not out of a concern for potential Ukrainian corruption.
Reed opposes the impeachment. He said the correct way to express disagreement with the president is at the ballot box not through impeachment.
Reed was recently named Honorary Campaign Chairman of the president's New York re-election committee.