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Shades of Ukraine’s withheld aid? Sen. Mitt Romney, others question why money for Lebanon was delayed.

Washington • Sen. Mitt Romney was among several colleagues on Wednesday to raise concerns about why the Trump administration temporarily withheld some $105 million in aid to Lebanon with questions swirling about whether the White House move was akin to previous efforts to condition military funding to Ukraine.

Romney, a Utah Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee overseeing parts of Asia and the Middle East, quizzed a top State Department official on why the administration delayed sending the aid to the Lebanese armed forces (LAF).

Joey Hood, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State’s Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said there was only bureaucratic red-tape and nothing nefarious behind the money being held back.