A White House Ukraine expert arrives to testify as Trump attacks him on Twitter.
Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, arrived Tuesday morning at the Capitol to testify to impeachment investigators about how he twice reported his concerns to a White House lawyer about how President Trump and his inner circle treated Ukraine.
He appeared in his midnight blue dress uniform, a bevy of medals pinned to his chest, for the closed-door session, where the colonel planned to deliver the latest in a series of damning accounts about the president’s dealings with Ukraine. His opening statement details his concerns about Mr. Trump’s request, during a July 25 telephone call, that Ukraine’s president launch investigations into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family.
Even as Colonel Vindman arrived, Mr. Trump lashed out at the decorated Army combat veteran without naming him, accusing him on Twitter of being a longtime political opponent.
Mr. Trump has sought to undermine the credibility of impeachment witnesses by suggesting they are part of a deep state political conspiracy staging a coup, or have a political agenda against him. In his opening statement, Colonel Vindman described himself as just the opposite, saying he was a “patriot” who is determined to “advance and defend our country irrespective of party or politics.”
Colonel Vindman is a Ukrainian-American immigrant who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb. He is the first witness who listened in on the call to testify in the impeachment inquiry.
Impeachment investigators move toward a public phase of the inquiry.
House Democrats announced on Monday plans to hold a floor vote on the impeachment inquiry on Thursday in an effort to publicly establish rules for the examination and due process for the president.
Mr. Trump and his supporters have dismissed the inquiry as a political witch hunt, and the White House has ordered key witnesses not to cooperate. Impeachment investigators said they would not wait for courts to rule on witness appearances. Moving forward with a vote will lead to the public phase of the inquiry, including televised congressional hearings.
The House Intelligence Committee chairman who is leading the inquiry, Representative Adam B. Schiff, said if the White House continues to prevent witnesses from testifying, it would strengthen the case against the president and be considered obstruction of Congress.