Army officer raised concerns about Trump’s Ukraine call
WASHINGTON: A White House official is set to tell congressional investigators on Tuesday he was “concerned” to hear President Donald Trump press his Ukrainian counterpart in a July phone call to probe a political rival, as House Democrats announced the first floor vote in the impeachment inquiry process for later in the week.
Lt Colonel Alexander S Vindman, who dealt with Ukraine as a member of the White House National Security Council (NSC), was among officials assigned to listen to the July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Volodymyr Zelensky to probe former vice president Joe Biden, who is running for the Democratic presidential ticket, and his son Hunter Biden, for the latter’s business dealings with a Ukrainian company. “I was concerned by the call,” Vindman plans to say, according to his opening remarks made available ahead of the hearing. “I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign governof ment investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US government’s support of Ukraine.” He conveyed his concerns to the NSC’s counsel.
Vindman is the first White House official to testify who had listened to the call, which is key to the impeachment inquiry against Trump. His testimony is expected to bolster those by his former boss Fiona Hill, who was the top Russia adviser to the president, and William B Taylor, the acting ambassador Ukraine.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a floor vote on Thursday to authorise the impeachment probe and set rules and procedures for public hearings, in contrast to the closed-door depositions so far.