US national security official to testify as impeachment process enters key week
For the first time, US House investigators expect to hear today from a current White House official as the impeachment inquiry reaches deeper into the Trump Administration and Democrats prepare for the next, public phase of the probe.
Alexander Vindman, a military officer and director for European affairs at the National Security Council, appears to be a possible key witness to events surrounding President Donald Trump’s interactions with Ukraine. He attended President Voldymyr Zelenskiy’s inauguration with a delegation, was part of Ukraine briefings that irritated John Bolton at the White House and may have been on the phone call that launched the impeachment inquiry.
The focus comes after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House will vote this week on a resolution to affirm the impeachment investigation, set rules for public hearings and outline the potential process for writing articles of impeachment against Trump. It would be the first formal House vote on the impeachment inquiry and aims to nullify complaints from Trump and his allies — amplified last week when Republicans stormed a secure room used for impeachment interviews — that the process is illegitimate, unfair and lacking in due process.
Democrats insisted they weren’t yielding to Republican pressure for a vote. Pelosi dismissed the Republican argument that impeachment can’t begin without formal approval from the House and brushed off their complaints about the closed-door process.
Trump has cited the lack of a House vote as a reason to refuse co-operation with the impeachment investigation. In the wake of Pelosi’s announcement, the White House said nothing had changed.