Top Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman ‘couldn’t believe’ what Donald Trump said to Volodymyr Zelensky
- Vindman tells impeachment investigators the July 25 phone call confirmed ‘my worst fear of how our Ukrainian policy could play out’.
- During that call, Trump asked Ukrainian president to carry out investigations that would benefit him politically, including one targeting Joe Biden
The third day of impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives marked the first time that officials from inside the White House publicly expressed their misgivings about a freewheeling pressure campaign that now threatens Trump’s presidency.
The White House’s top Ukraine expert, wearing his Army dress uniform, said Trump had made an “improper” demand of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call that has become the centrepiece of the Democratic-led impeachment probe of the Republican president.
“Frankly, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was probably an element of shock that maybe, in certain regards, my worst fear of how our Ukrainian policy could play out was playing out,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman said.
Two other senior White House aides, Jennifer Williams and Tim Morrison, also said they were concerned by the political nature of that phone call.
Williams told the committee that Trump’s call with Zelensky was unusual and inappropriate because “it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter”.
Morrison said he did not see anything improper in the call but was concerned that its contents could leak, hurting bipartisan support for Ukraine.