• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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White House official was ‘concerned’ about Trump’s Ukraine call

Impeachment: the facts pile up against Donald Trump

A White House official who listened in on the July 25 phone call between Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart will tell Congress he was “concerned” about the exchange and reported his unease to a National Security Council lawyer.

Alexander Vindman, a US army officer and Purple Heart recipient, joined the NSC last year, reporting to Fiona Hill, Mr Trump’s former top Russia adviser.

On Tuesday Mr Vindman will tell the House of Representatives committees leading the impeachment inquiry into the US president that he listened in on the July 25 phone call from the White House situation room alongside other administration officials.

According to a draft of Mr Vindman’s opening statement, first published by The New York Times, he will say that he was “concerned” by the call, in which Mr Trump asked Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, the former vice-president’s son. Hunter Biden had held a board position with Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas company.

“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,” Mr Vindman will tell the impeachment inquiry. He will also say that he reported his concerns to John Eisenberg, the NSC’s lead counsel.

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A whistleblower complaint centred on the July 25 phone call sparked the impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump. The White House released a memorandum based on the phone call this month. But Mr Vindman, whose family fled the Soviet Union for the US in 1979, will insist on Tuesday that he is not the whistleblower.

Mr Vindman will also describe a July 10 meeting in Washington involving Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Danylyuk, the US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, US energy secretary Rick Perry, then-US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and then-US national security adviser John Bolton.

He will say the meeting was “cut short” by Mr Bolton after Mr Sondland “started to speak about Ukraine delivering specific investigations” to secure a meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky.

According to Mr Vindman, during the meeting Mr Sondland “emphasised the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 [US presidential] election, the Bidens and Burisma”.

The officer will say he told Mr Sondland that his statement was “inappropriate” and his requests to investigate the Bidens “had nothing to do with national security”. Ms Hill also reported her concerns to Mr Eisenberg, Mr Vindman will say.

Last week William Taylor, the US chargé d’affaires to Ukraine since June, told the impeachment inquiry that the release of US military aid to Ukraine was contingent on Mr Zelensky opening an investigation into the Bidens and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

On Monday Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, said members of Congress would vote this week on a resolution formalising the impeachment inquiry.

“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorised subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives,” the Speaker said.

The White House has insisted it would not co-operate with the impeachment inquiry, and House committees have subpoenaed witnesses to compel them to testify. On Monday Mr Trump’s former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman defied a subpoena and did not appear for his scheduled deposition.