White House bucks Vindman testimony: Trump sets agenda 'not unelected bureaucrats'

White House officials on Tuesday took issue with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman’s testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, saying his complaints were “nothing more than policy disagreements.”

Col. Vindman, who serves on the National Security Council, told the impeachment panel that he was alarmed by the Trump administration pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Ukraine meddling in the U.S. 2016 election.

He also complained that President Trump, during an April phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, veered from the talking points approved by the NSC and did not talk about the broad issue of corruption.

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“Those were the recommended talking points that were cleared through the NSC staff,” he said.

The White House pushed back, saying Col. Vindman’s talking points do not establish U.S. foreign policy.

“The President is in charge of setting the foreign policy of the United States, not unelected bureaucrats,” said the White House. “The president has every right to conduct American foreign policy in whatever way he sees fit and is not in any way obligated to follow bureaucratic talking points written by staff.”