White House official to tell impeachment investigators he feared Trump’s demands of Ukraine would undermine national security

An Army officer assigned to the White House plans to tell House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he was disturbed by President Trump’s demand that Ukraine investigate one of his political rivals and feared it would undermine U.S. national security.

Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, a top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, was part of a small group of White House officials assigned to listen in on Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. His testimony returns repeatedly to his fears that Trump’s manipulation of Ukraine policy to discredit his political rival, former vice president Joe Biden, is unethical and damaging to U.S. national security.

Read the document: Opening Statement of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman intends to tell lawmakers, according to a draft of his opening statement.

Vindman is the first White House official to testify who listened to Trump’s controversial call, which was exposed by a government whistleblower and triggered a historic impeachment inquiry. His prepared statement, first reported by the New York Times, bolsters previous testimony by Fiona Hill, his former boss at the National Security Council, and William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine.

Vindman’s testimony follows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) call for a vote later this week authorizing the impeachment inquiry. Pelosi’s move came in response to Republican criticism that the Democrats’ activities to date amount to a partisan hit job and have denied the president due process.