In a familiar-sounding opening statement to Tuesday’s impeachment hearings, Devin Nunes dismissed witnesses as “three diplomats, who dislike the president’s Ukraine policy, discussing second-hand and third-hand conversations about their objections.” But Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated veteran and Ukraine expert on the White House National Security Council, and Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was on Trump’s July 25 phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, almost immediately shot down that argument, making clear that their objections were not with the Trump administration’s policy agenda in Ukraine, but with what they saw as an effort by the president to use his office to further his political agenda.

Williams testified that the conversation was “unusual” and inappropriately focused on what “appeared to be a domestic political matter”—echoing her closed-door deposition to lawmakers in October. “The reference to [Joe Biden] sounded political to me,” she testified. Vindman went even further, describing the Trump-Zelensky call as “improper” and a threat to both U.S. and Ukrainian interests. “It was inappropriate,” Vindman said. “It was improper for the president to demand an investigation into a political opponent, especially a foreign power where there’s at best dubious belief this would be a completely impartial investigation.” He added, “It would undermine our Ukraine policy and it would undermine our national security.”

Both of these assertions run counter to how Republicans have sought to frame Trump’s interactions with Ukraine. The president, they say, was simply making inquiries into Ukraine’s willingness to root out corruption, a key element of U.S. foreign policy in the region. They argue that Vindman worked to undermine Trump’s policy decision because they disagreed with him. Williams and Vindman, both well-versed in foreign policy, say Trump’s outreach had the unmistakable flavor of a personal vendetta. In other words, that they raised the alarm because the president put his own interests ahead of the interests of the country.

House Republicans continue to suggest that witnesses are spouting “hearsay” meant to make the president look bad, and that the concerning actions by Trump merely reflect policy disagreements within the administration. Trump’s allies smeared Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, ahead of his closed-door testimony last month, suggesting he’s a spy with foreign allegiances. Trump himself lashed out at Williams over the weekend, demanding she read the transcript of a call she was on and accusing her of plotting a “presidential attack.” “Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released [statement] from Ukraine,” Trump wrote Sunday. “Then she should meet with the other Never Trumpers, who I don’t know & mostly never even heard of, & work out a better presidential attack!”

Vindman refuted attacks from the president and others on those who have testified in his opening statement, saying that the “vile character attacks on these distinguished and honorable public servants is reprehensible.” Unfortunately, such attacks are about all Republicans have at their disposal in their misguided commitment to defending Trump at all costs. Witness after witness has laid out facts suggesting the president used the power of his office to get a foreign leader to investigate one of his domestic political foes. Williams, who has served in one Democratic and two Republican administrations, and Vindman, who appeared visibly nervous and reluctant to be in the spotlight, were every bit as credible as those who testified before them, in no small part because they cast doubt on certain Democratic talking points, including questions some lawmakers and media outlets have raised about irregularities in the call transcripts the White House has released. That Vindman downplayed such concerns Tuesday added even more gravity to the concerns he did have: that the president’s shadow policy in Ukraine was promoting his interests over those of America and its ally.

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