Decorated Lt. Col. Vindman unafraid to call out Trump in impeachment hearing

WASHINGTON — “It’s Lt. Col. Vindman.”

With that, the Iraq War veteran, his chest flush with ribbons and commendations, tersely reminded Republican lawmakers questioning his judgment and loyalty just whom they were trying to discredit as the impeachment drive against President Trump veered into the personal.

Alexander Vindman: Purple Heart recipient, career diplomat, Army infantry officer. And this: “I am an American.”

Vindman, a Soviet Jewish immigrant, felt it necessary to state his allegiance as he batted away Republican questions about the offers he got to work for Ukraine’s government. “I immediately dismissed these offers,” he said. Still, the queries carried an implicit suggestion of disloyalty.

When the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, looked down from the dais Tuesday and addressed the witness as “Mr. Vindman,” the pushback was unmistakable.

“Ranking member, it’s Lt. Col. Vindman please,” he said.

Trump and his allies tried to identify Vindman and fellow witness Jennifer William, an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, as “Never Trumpers.”

“I’m not sure I know an official definition of a ‘Never Trumper,’ ” Williams said, but she rejected the label.

“I’d call myself never partisan,” Vindman said.

Testifying in full uniform, he was unafraid to call out his commander in chief: Trump’s lean on Ukraine to gain information on a Democratic rival was “improper,” Vindman said.

“Without hesitation, I knew I had to report this,” Vindman testified. “It was inappropriate, it was improper for the president to demand an investigation into a political opponent.”

Vindman’s testimony came during a full day of activity before the Intelligence Committee.

Former U.S. special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker, called by Republicans to testify, instead spoke up on behalf of former Vice President Joe Biden.

Volker said he has known Biden as an honorable man for more than two decades, rebuffing debunked corruption allegations that Trump is said to have wanted the Ukrainians to investigate in exchange for military aid to hold off Russian aggression.

“The allegations against Vice President Biden are self-serving and non-credible,” Volker declared.

Tim Wilson, a former top national security adviser to Trump, testified that a rough transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was placed on a highly classified system by mistake.

“It was an administrative error,” Wilson said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/330CGqn