Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman, who joined the National Security Council in 2018 and listened in on the July 25 2019 Trump/Zelensky call, will answer questions tomorrow before the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry.
2/ His family fled the USSR when he was 3.
"I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics," he will say, according to a copy of his opening statement.
"I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics," he will say, according to a copy of his opening statement.
3/ "For over twenty years as an active duty United States military officer and diplomat, I have served this country in a nonpartisan manner, and have done so with the utmost respect and professionalism for both Republican and Democratic administrations," Vindman will say.
4/ Of note, he will descrbe the following:
July 10, 2019, Oleksandr Danylyuk, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council for Ukraine, visited DC for meetings with NSA Bolton, Amb. Volker, Amb. Sondland, & Secretary Perry.
July 10, 2019, Oleksandr Danylyuk, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council for Ukraine, visited DC for meetings with NSA Bolton, Amb. Volker, Amb. Sondland, & Secretary Perry.
5/ "The meeting proceeded well until the Ukrainians broached the subject of a meeting between the two presidents. The Ukrainians saw this meeting as critically important in order to solidify the support of their most important international partner...
6/ "...Amb. Sondland started to speak about Ukraine delivering specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with the President, at which time Ambassador Bolton cut the meeting short.'
7/ After the meeting came a debrief in which Sondland "emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma," the energy firm on whose board Hunter Biden had served.
8/ Vindman: "I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to get involved in or push...
9/ The NSC's Fiona "Hill then entered the room and asserted to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate. Following the debriefing meeting, I reported my concerns to the NSC’s lead counsel. Dr. Hill also reported the incident to the NSC’s lead counsel."
10/ Vindman will testify that he listened to the July 25 Trump/Zelensky call.
"I was concerned by the call," he plans on saying. "I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen...
"I was concerned by the call," he plans on saying. "I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen...
11/ "...and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine. I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play...
12/ "...which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained. This would all undermine U.S. national security. Following the call, I again reported my concerns to NSC’s lead counsel."
13/ Vindman served multiple overseas tours as an infantry officer in the US Army and deployed to Iraq for combat operations, where he was wounded in an IED attack and awarded a Purple Heart.
