WASHINGTON — A pair of Republican congressmen with military credentials dutifully thanked Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman for his service, then lambasted Tuesday’s star witness of the impeachment hearings into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
“As one military family to another, I thank you and your brothers for your service,” said Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, a retired Air Force major whose father and four brothers also served in the military.
Stewart then chided Vindman for expecting another congressman to address him as lieutenant colonel instead of Mr., and for projecting his military background onto a civilian conversation with his description of the “favor” Trump asked of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Vindman characterized it as a demand from a superior.
“Representative, I made that judgment, I stick by that judgment,” Vindman, wearing his decorated military dress blue uniform, said of his assessment of a phone call between the two presidents that is central to the impeachment inquiry.
“I gotta tell you, I think it’s nonsense,” Stewart retorted. “Look, I was in the military, I could distinguish between a favor and an order and a demand, and so could my subordinates, and I think President Zelenskiy did as well. He never initiated an investigation. In fact, he’s been very clear. He said, ‘I never felt any pressure, at all.’”
Vindman’s testimony began a crucial week in the public impeachment inquiry, with eight witnesses testifying over three days before the House Intelligence Committee. Sitting next to Vindman in the morning hearing was Julie Williams, a career Foreign Service officer who is a special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. They both listened in on the July 25 call between Trump and Zelenskiy.
Testifying in the afternoon session were witnesses Republicans had requested to appear: Tim Morrison, a White House aide with the National Security Council who also listened in on the call and is Vindman’s boss, and Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine and one of the “three amigos” — along with Ambassador Gordon Sondland and Energy Secretary Rick Perry — involved in the president’s back-channel Ukraine policy, pressing the country to conduct investigations Trump sought.
Sondland, who revised his testimony after it was contradicted by other witnesses in closed-door depositions, is scheduled to testify Wednesday. In his amended testimony, he confirmed the quid pro quo at the heart of the inquiry.
The exchange between Stewart and Vindman highlighted one the GOP’s main arguments against impeaching Trump over a July 25 phone conversation with Zelenskiy, in which Trump asked for a “favor” — that Zelenskiy announce investigations into alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 election and Joe Biden’s involvement in Ukraine while he was vice president. In exchange, the White House would release military aid and offer a visit to the White House, according to witness testimony.
“Without hesitation, I knew I had to report this,” Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified. “It was inappropriate; it was improper for the president to demand an investigation into a political opponent.”
On Tuesday, Republicans repeated their contention that because the aid was eventually released without Ukraine launching the investigations Trump wanted, there was no bribery or other crime committed.
Republicans also assailed Vindman, a 20-year military officer who received a Purple Heart for being wounded in the Iraq War. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, accused him of going outside the chain of command in reporting concerns about the call, while others questioned his loyalty and probed whether he talked with the whistleblower, whose complaint about the call triggered the impeachment investigation.
Vindman, who said he did not know the whistleblower, testified that he did talk to a person in the intelligence community about the call, but on the advice of his attorney he resisted attempts by GOP committee members to say it who it was. The whistleblower is reportedly a CIA official.
Williams said she thought the call was unusual and “political in nature” because of Trump’s mention of Biden and she provided a rough transcript of that call to Pence. Vindman was also alarmed.
“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.”
He explained how the uneven power dynamic between the United States and Ukraine made it clear to him that the “favor” would be interpreted as a demand by Ukrainian officials, who feared any signal of wavering American support would embolden Russia, which has invaded eastern Ukraine.
“The culture I come from, the military culture, when a senior asks you to do something ... it’s not be taken as a request, it’s to be taken as an order,” he said.
In his opening statement, Vindman gave a moving tribute to his father, who left the Soviet Union with his twin sons after their mother died and immigrated to the United States 40 years ago this month. Vindman said they left a country where reporting a concern to his superiors or testifying about it publicly would threaten his career and his life.
“Dad, my sitting here today, in the U.S. Capitol, talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family,” he said. “Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.”
That is not to say he has no concerns. Vindman, whose loyalty has been attacked by Trump allies online and on television, is being provided security by the U.S. Army and local law enforcement, a U.S. official told the Associated Press. The official said the Army is prepared to take additional steps, if needed, including moving Vindman and his family to a more secure location on a base. CNN reported the request for security came from Vindman and the Army does not believe there is an imminent threat against him.
Williams has also been criticized by Trump via Twitter, where he called her a “Never Trumper” over the weekend.
When asked about the tweet in question, Williams said she was surprised to be called out by name but didn’t know “an official definition of a ‘Never Trumper’” and wouldn’t describe herself that way.