Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
A White House national security official who is a decorated Iraq war veteran plans to tell House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he heard President Trump appeal to Ukraine’s president to investigate one of his leading political rivals, a request the aide considered so damaging to American interests that he reported it to a superior.
Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman of the Army, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, twice registered internal objections about how Mr. Trump and his inner circle were treating Ukraine, out of what he called a “sense of duty,” he plans to tell the inquiry, according to a draft of his opening statement obtained by The New York Times.
He will be the first White House official to testify who listened in on the July 25 telephone call between Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that is at the center of the impeachment inquiry, in which Mr. Trump asked Mr. Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
In another article, the Times notes that Colonel Vindman has a master’s degree from Harvard in Russian, Eastern Europe, and Central Asian Studies. He has served in the United States’ embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine, and in Moscow, and was the officer specializing in Russia for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before joining the National Security Council in 2018. He earned a Purple Heart in Iraq, had a master’s degree from Harvard, and now works at the White House across the hall from his equally accomplished twin brother. However, since he was brought to the United States as a 3-year-old child from Ukraine, right-leaning news outlets and social media have already begun a smear campaign against him calling Vindman some kind of Ukraine double agent/spy. Trump himself tweeted that Vindman is a ‘Never Trumper,’ for which there is no evidence or proof.
Supposedly, according to the Corrupt Media, the Ukraine call “concerned” today’s Never Trumper witness. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2019
.@brikeilarcnn on ex-Rep. Duffy’s remarks on Alexander Vindman: It’s "anti-immigrant bigotry, and it's an odd questioning of patriotism coming from Sean Duffy, the guy who spent part of his 20s on MTV’s 'The Real World'… while Alexander Vindman spent his on foreign deployments.” pic.twitter.com/QofMhMKu58
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) October 29, 2019
Seriously? Wow. So shameful. Vindman is a patriot, who has served his country with honor both on and off the battlefield. He was a first rate officer at the embassy, one of the best on the team. https://t.co/IN1P5P0BLO
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) October 29, 2019
God forbid we should have national security professionals who can communicate with foreign officials in their native language & are country specialists. Vindman has a valid security clearance, which is more than can be said for the president & 2 of his senior advisors. https://t.co/7RXY8wKEMf
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) October 29, 2019
That “Never #Trump‘er witness” is a decorated WAR HERO. With a PURPLE HEART. Who SERVED his country HONORABLY for decades. Unlike you…a DRAFT-DODGING COWARD TRAITOR. How DARE you attack his character? #Vindman #WhistleblowerGate #Ukraine
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) October 29, 2019
The witness, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, was awarded a Purple Heart after sustaining injuries from an IED when he was deployed in Iraq. The closest thing Trump ever got to a Purple Heart was when he yanked one from Lieutenant Colonel Louis Dorfman at a Trump rally.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 29, 2019