Vindman Describes Call as "Improper" In Testimony

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Democrats kicked off this week's impeachment investigation with four witnesses, who generally expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's call to Zelensky, but, per NPR, none of them suggested anything illegal happened and said that quid-pro-quo wasn't pushed. Essentially, Trump is defending the call in his usual fashion ("perfect" call, and attacking 'accusers'), while others are saying it was improper and possibly contradicting Sondland's testimony. NPR gives a much broader view of the hearings, including a small amount on Vindman. The Fox article is a focused piece on a small part of his testimony, and the Guardian piece is essentially a reading of his prepared remarks with a few bits of hard-left spin slipped in. There is a tremendous amount of detail to the interview, but the best summary is probably Vindman's prepared remarks (see link in Guardian article). The reader is encouraged to try those and skip the second-hand opinions.
Common Facts
Content (1)
NPR
Fox New.
The Gua.
Vindman listened in on The Call
Definitions (17)
The Call: Donald Trump placed a phone call with Zelensky on July 25th
Vindman: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is an Army foreign area officer who serves on the National Security Council
Williams: Jennifer Williams is a foreign service officer detailed to Pence's staff
Volker: Kurt Volker was a State Department envoy to Ukraine for peace negotiations
Morrison: Tim Morrison was a National Security Council aide and Vindman's supervisor
Pence: Vice President Mike Pence
Giuliani: Rudy Giuliani is Trump's personal lawyer
Zelensky: Volodymyr Zelensky (or Zelenskiy) is the sixth President of Ukraine
Bolton: John Bolton was the National Security Advisor to Trump
Grisham: Stephanie Grisham is a White House press secretary
Biden: Joe Biden was the Vice President of the United States with Obama
Sondland: Gordon Sondland is the United States Ambassador to the European Union
Danylyuk: Alex Danylyuk is a Ukrainian Official
Nunes: Devin Nunes is a Republican Congressmen and the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee
The Whistleblower: The anonymous whistleblower is the person who lodged the complaint about The Call that led to the impeachment proceedings
Schiff: Adam Schiff is a Democratic Representative from California and the Committee Chairman
NSC: National Security Council
Review Info (3)
First Published: 11/19/2019 11:30:06 pm
Last Updated: 11/20/2019 01:13:20 am
Original Front Page Link
NPR
Content (22)
Williams listened in on The Call
The channel was run by Giuliani
Volker helped broker a meeting between Giuliani and an aide to Zelensky
Volk said "a great deal of additional information and perspectives have come to light since then"
The change was in his opening statement
Volker stated he didn't know of "know of any linkage between the hold on U.S. military aid to Ukraine and the country's pursuing investigations"
Volker stated that "he did not convey such a linkage to the Ukrainians"
Volker initially said there was no discussion in a July 10th meeting between Bolton and Danylyuk of Giuliani's investigation into the Bidens
In his opening statement, Volker stated: "As I remember, the meeting was essentially over when Amb. Sondland made a generic comment about investigations."
…and continued: "I think all of us thought it was inappropriate; the conversation did not continue and the meeting concluded."
Volker stated that he didn't know that others believed that investigation into Burisma was the same as investigating Biden.
Volker said he knew Biden for 24 years as "an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard."
He was concerned about what would happen when the call became public
He saw nothing illegal
He was disappointed in the call, hoping for a better endorsement of Zelensky's reform agenda from Trump
Morrison stated they did not recommend that the president discuss investigating Biden
"House Democrats began the second week of their open impeachment hearings on Tuesday with" Vindman and Williams
The Tuesday afternoon session included Volker and Morrison
"Volker was at the center of the alternate policy channel for Ukraine"
"Volker changed some key aspects of his testimony behind doors last month"
Morrison heard The Call as it happened
The Call was a key moment in the Ukraine affair
Opinion (4)
Trump characterized The Call as "perfect"
Vindman called The Call "improper"
Grisham said Vindman and William's testimony provided nothing new
Grisham said the proceedings were "illegitimate"
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/19/2019 05:00:00 am
Date Accessed: 11/19/2019 05:36:00 pm
Article Author: Brian Naylor
Click here to see the article
Fox News
Content (15)
Vindman correcting Nunes came during a back-and-forth over the identity of The Whistleblower
Nunes stated: "Mr. Vindman, you testified in your deposition that you did not know the whistleblower"
Vindman responded: "Ranking member, it's Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, please"
Nunes corrected himself and repeated his question
This "followed questions regarding who Vindman had spoken with about" The Call
Schiff interjected multiple times to advise Vindman to not expose the identity of The Whistleblower
Schiff stated The Whistleblower was afforded legal protection
Vindman stated he spoke to two people regarding a readout of The Call
Both were government employees with a need to know
Nunes asked which agencies they were with
Vindman stated he spoke with Kent and "an individual in the intelligence community"
Nunes asked which agency the latter individual worked for
Schiff cut off the question, reminding Vindman to be careful not to reveal the indentity of The Whistleblower
Nunes reminded Vindman of his prior testimony that he didn't know the whistleblower
Vindman stated he did not know the identity of The Whistleblower and that his counsel advised against answering specific questions about members of the intelligence community.
Opinion (2)
Vindman's testimony grew tense during questioning from Nunes
Vindman 'scolded' Nunes for not addressing him by his military title
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/19/2019 12:00:00 pm
Date Accessed: 11/19/2019 06:32:00 pm
Article Author: Ronn Blitzer
Click here to see the article
The Guardian
Content (20)
Vindman gave an opening statement before congressional impeachment investigators on Tuesday
In this, he planned to describe concerns that Trump's push to investigate Biden was undermining US foreign policy in Ukraine
Vindman testified that the call summary released by the White House is accurate
Vindman is the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, which is why he was on The Call
"Vindman took concerns to NSC lawyer"
He "planned to describe multiple scenes in which White House discussions about Ukraine policy, including discussions with Ukrainians, were interrupted by an insistence that Ukraine announce investigations tied to Biden"
Vindman's Statement: "I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US government’s support of Ukraine,"
Vindman took concerns to the top lawyer for NSC
At least one other person did the same
"Vindman’s testimony appears to conflict with Sondland’s claims"
Vindman planned to finger Sondland "as the Trump administration’s point man in extracting the 'deliverable' – a Biden investigation announcement – from Ukraine"
From Vindman's statement: "I stated to Ambassador Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security."
This testimony appears to conflict with Sondland's claims to ignorance of attempts to negotiate the deal with Ukraine
"Vindman’s family fled the former Soviet Union"
Vindman is a career public servant and soldier
He arrived in the US at age 3 after his family fled the Soviet Union
He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army with two decades of military experience
He received a purple heart after being wounded by an IED in Iraq
"White House accused Vindman of ‘espionage’ against Trump"
"The White House and media allies have launched a character smear against Vindman, accusing him of disloyalty to the US and of 'espionage' against Trump."
Opinion (3)
Trump's push to investigate Biden was a 'plot'
The proposed investigation into Biden was baseless
'“I knew people were listening in on the call (why would I say something inappropriate?), which was fine with me, but why so many?” Trump tweeted. “Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call.”'
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/19/2019 09:58:00 am
Date Accessed: 11/19/2019 07:38:00 pm
Article Author: Tom McCarthy
Click here to see the article