DON IN THE DUMPS
PREZ BLASTS W. HOUSE AIDE IN IMPEACH INQUIRY
A Brooklyn-bred Army officer who serves on President Trump’s National Security Council testified Tuesday that he twice rang the alarm on Trump’s Ukraine scandal, becoming the first current White House official to spill beans in the impeachment inquiry as Democrats prepared to take the probe public.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Iraq War veteran in charge of White House policy on European affairs, told impeachment investigators behind closed doors that he listened in on Trump’s infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman said he was so “concerned” by the conversation that he promptly reported it to National Security Council lawyers.
“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support,” Vindman said, according to his prepared opening remarks, referring to Joe Biden, one of Trump’s top political opponents in the 2020 race.
He added, “I again reported my concerns to NSC’s lead counsel.”
At that point, Vindman said he had already contacted NSC lawyers with concerns he had about Gordon Sondland, Trump’s handpicked ambassador to the European Union, who had told him at a briefing earlier in July that Ukraine needed to commit to investigating Biden’s family and other Democrats before the 2020 election.
“I stated to Ambassador Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to be involved in or push,”
Vindman said.
Vindman’s testimony may spell trouble for Sondland, a Trump campaign mega-donor who testified earlier this month that he had no recollection of talking to anyone about the president’s desire for Ukrainian investigations.
Vindman, who grew up in Brighton Beach and was awarded a Purple Heart after stepping on an IED in Iraq, arrived for his secure impeachment deposition wearing his military blues and medals, providing a striking image that piqued Trump’s anger.
“Supposedly, according to the Corrupt Media, the Ukraine call ‘concerned’ today’s Never Trumper witness,” Trump tweeted as Vindman’s testimony was underway. “Was he on the same call that I was? Can’t be possible! Please ask him to read the Transcript of the call. Witch Hunt!”
The president also tweeted of Vindman, who still works at the White House and holds no known “Never Trumper”
beliefs: “Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call.”
Vindman rebuffed Trump’s order to not appear for the deposition after being served with a subpoena, according to a source on one of the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry.
He became the first administration official with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s July 25 call to testify in the probe.
Vindman’s testimony lasted for roughly 10 hours.
The committees did not immediately reveal key points of the grilling beyond the opening statement, but The New York Times reported late Tuesday that Vindman told investigators an official transcript memo of Trump’s July call with Zelensky omitted crucial details, including Trump telling his Ukrainian counterpart there were recordings of Biden discussing corruption in Ukraine.
Vindman reportedly testified he proposed adding those details to the memo before the
White House released it publicly, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Vindman did not divulge any motives in the editing process, but the revelation could spur Democrats to look into whether the omissions were part of the deliberate coverup they say the White House engaged in after the call.
Among other matters, the impeachment inquiry is exploring whether Trump asking Zelensky to do him “a favor” by launching investigations amounted to a quid pro quo, considering Trump had at the time of the call put a freeze on nearly $400 million in sorely needed U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
The damning testimony from Vindman came as House Democrats unveiled a longawaited resolution proposing to open up the impeachment inquiry to the public and give Trump and his Republican allies ample opportunity to defend themselves.
The resolution, which is all but certain to pass as the Democratic-controlled House votes on it Thursday, seemingly satisfies all demands made by Republicans who have lamented a supposed lack of transparency in the probe into Trump’s alleged attempts to strong-arm Ukraine into investigating Democrats.
The measure authorizes the House Intelligence Committee to release transcripts from closed-door depositions taken in the inquiry so far.
It also gives the intelligence panel the opportunity to call public hearings, in which staff attorneys for both sides will be given 45 minutes each per line of inquiry to question witnesses. Attorneys for Trump will also be allowed to participate in the process, according to the eight-page resolution.
Lastly, the resolution establishes procedure for how the three impeachment committees will pass along their findings to the House Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for drafting articles of impeachment.
“Following in the footsteps of previous impeachment inquiries, the next phase will move from closed depositions to open hearings where the American people will learn firsthand about the president’s misconduct,” House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Acting House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).
House Republicans have called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote on a formal resolution ever since the impeachment inquiry kicked off on Sept. 24.
Nonetheless, they weren’t pleased Tuesday.
“This resolution should go down in flames,” said New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, a GOP member of the oversight panel, arguing the measure should have been voted on off the bat. “It’s a missed opportunity. A resolution done correctly should have been done weeks ago.”