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Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified in Tuesday’s public impeachment hearing that his patriotism motivated him to speak out against President Trump’s alleged abuses of power despite knowing there was “a lot of risk” involved.
Vindman, a Brooklyn-bred Iraq War veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart for his service, took the patriotic stand when New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney asked whether he was concerned about the consequences of testifying against Trump.
“I knew I was assuming a lot of risk,” said Vindman, who was wearing his military blues and medals. “(But) this is America. This is the country I served and defended…and here right matters.”
The comment prompted loud applause from the audience.
Vindman says he was ‘excluded’ from meetings after reporting Trump’s Ukraine call
Vindman testified he may have been retaliated against after reporting his concerns about Trump’s infamous July phone call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
The U.S. Army officer detailed to the National Security Council said he was frozen out of several relevant meetings after he alerted White House lawyers to the July 25 call on which Trump pressed President Zelensky to launch investigations of Joe Biden’s family and other Democrats before the 2020 election.
“I did notice I was being excluded from several meetings that would have been appropriate for my position,” Vindman said.
Vindman stressed he wasn’t completely “sure” it amounted to retaliation, though he said he found it peculiar to be kept out of meetings relating to Ukraine policy, which is his expertise.
Joaquin Castro — twin brother of presidential candidate Julian Castro — finds common ground with Vindman
It’s a twin thing.
Rep. Joaquin Castro lightened up the sober impeachment session with a joke about what he and Vindman have in common.
“It’s nice to talk to another identical twin. I hope that your brother is nicer to you than mine is to me, and doesn’t make you grow a beard,” the Texas Democrat said, prompting a roar of laughs.
Castro’s brother, Julian Castro, is a beardless Democratic candidate for president.
GOP lawyer faces ‘dual loyalty’ criticism for pressing Vindman on Ukrainian job offer
A congressional lawyer representing the House Intelligence Committee’s Republican members faced criticism after seemingly questioning Vindman’s loyalty to the U.S. during Tuesday’s public impeachment hearing.
The GOP counsel, Steve Castor, at length asked Vindman — who was awarded a Purple Heart after being injured in a road-side bombing in Iraq — about revelations that a Ukrainian government official made an offer for him to become the country’s defense minister.
Castor even asked what language Vindman and the official spoke in and whether the offer amounted to a “perception” of conflict of interest.
Appearing a bit perplexed, Vindman replied he spoke in English with the official.
“I’m an American, I came here when I was a toddler, and I immediately dismissed these offers,” Vindman responded, adding he reported the Ukrainian official’s offers to his superiors at the White House.
Vindman called Castor’s line of questioning “comical.”
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) accused Castor of engaging in a “dual loyalty” smear — the racist and often anti-Semitic suggestion that immigrants can’t be devoted to the U.S.
“I want people to understand what that was all about. It’s the kind of thing you say when you’re defending the indefensible,” Himes said. “It’s what you say when it’s not enough to attack the media.”
Vindman unexpectedly praises Rudy Giuliani as ‘New York’s finest mayor’
Vindman may not have liked Rudy Giuliani’s actions in Ukraine — but he liked the job he did at Gracie Mansion.
The U.S. Army officer and White House National Security Council adviser was answering questions from Castor when the attorney asked him if he has ever met Giuliani or spoken with him on the phone.
“I did not,” Vindman said. “I only know him as New York’s finest mayor.”
“America’s mayor,” Castor responded.
“Yes, America’s mayor,” said Vindman, breaking into a broad grin.
Vindman, 44, was a toddler when he came to Brighton Beach as a refugee from the former Soviet Union. He was 18 when Giuliani was first elected mayor in 1993.
While he gave Giuliani’s mayoral tenure a thumbs up, Vindman made clear he wasn’t happy with his Trump-endorsed bid for Ukrainian political dirt.
“It certainly wasn’t helpful and it didn’t help advance U.S. national security interests,” Vindman said.
Vindman rebukes Trump’s ‘cowardly’ attacks against ‘distinguished’ impeachment witnesses
Vindman, who remains the National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, took aim at Trump over his “cowardly” attacks against witnesses in the impeachment inquiry.
Vindman did not mention Trump by name in the rebuke, but the president has publicly attacked several key impeachment witnesses, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was testifying alongside Vindman on Tuesday.
“The vile character attacks on these distinguished and honorable public servants is reprehensible,” Vindman said. “We are better than callow and cowardly attacks.”
Without any evidence, the president and some of his Republican allies have blasted impeachment witnesses as “Never Trumpers,” even though several of them were hired by his administration.
Williams, Vindman testify there’s no evidence of Trump’s claims about Bidens, 2016 election
Vindman and Williams both testified there’s no evidence to back up debunked claims that anti-Trump Ukrainians interfered in the 2016 election or that Joe Biden helped his son, Hunter, evade corruption charges in the European country.
The two White House officials listened in on the July 25 call on which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to do him “a favor” by publicly announcing investigations of both theories.
Beyond the dubious nature of Trump’s request, Williams testified it was “political in nature, given that the former vice president is a political opponent of the president.”
House Intelligence Committee Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman noted that the 2016 claims originated with shadowy forces operating on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am well aware of that fact,” Vindman said in response to Goldman’s point.
Vindman says he reported Trump’s ‘inappropriate’ Ukraine call ‘out of a sense of duty’
Vindman opened Tuesday’s hearing with a scathing rebuke of Trump’s infamous call with Zelensky.
Wearing his military blues, Vindman said it was “inappropriate” for Trump to ask the Ukrainian president to launch investigations of the Bidens and other Democrats before the 2020 election.
“It is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent,” said Vindman, who remains a White House employee. “It was also clear that if they pursued the investigation into the 2016 elections, the Bidens and Burisma, it would be interpreted as a partisan play and it would result in Ukraine losing bipartisan support from the U.S.”
Vindman reported his concerns about the call to the National Security Council’s top lawyer.
“I did so out of a sense of duty,” he said.
Nunes claims Democrats have placed Ukraine whistleblower in a ‘witness protection program’
Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, is all but calling the intelligence whistleblower a criminal.
The California Republican suggested at the outset of Tuesday’s impeachment hearing that Democrats have put the still-anonymous whistleblower into a “witness protection program.”
Witness protection is usually associated with organized crime members who flip on their bosses.
But the intelligence whistleblower is a CIA officer who has the right under federal law to remain anonymous.
Nunes’ increasingly aggressive attack on the whistleblower comes as Republicans continue to be frustrated that Democrats have decided to protect the person’s anonymity by not calling on him or her to testify.
The whistleblower complaint has been almost entirely corroborated by other witnesses, many of whom have first-hand knowledge of Trump’s alleged misdeeds, including Vindman and Williams.
Vindman arrives for testimony in full military uniform adorned with Purple Heart
Vindman arrived for Tuesday’s testimony wearing his full military uniform adorned with the Purple Heart he was awarded for his service.
The White House official grew emotional in his opening statement, bringing up his family’s refugee history and repeatedly stating he came forward to testify out of respect for “duty” and “truth.”
“Dad, I’m sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol talking to our elected professionals — proof that you made the right decision to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family,” Vindman said. “Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.”
After Vindman and Williams, Kurt Volker, Trump’s former special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council official, are expected to testify jointly in an afternoon session.