News breaking this evening that Colonel Vindman, preparing to testify in the morning as the first person to testify who happened to be on the call with Trump and Ukrainian president Zelensky, has had his opening statement hit the web, and it’s earth shattering:

!!! Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman of the Army, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, twice registered internal objections about how Mr. Trump and his inner circle were treating Ukraine, out of what he called a “sense of duty.” @nytimes https://t.co/amU3tzO5Lp — Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) October 29, 2019

From USA Today:

The testimony of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman before the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees Tuesday will mark the first time lawmakers investigating the impeachment inquiry will hear from someone who listened to Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — the call at the center of the impeachment investigation that included a Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. “I was concerned by the call,” Vindman wrote in the opening statement. “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.”

And Sondland better be calling his lawyer back and reading up on perjury defenses, while asking for a chance to “clarify” his testimony. Vindman states that he recalls two events he found concerning and inappropriate, so much so that he reported them to the NSC top lawyer. He discussed a meeting in July with Sondland, Volker and Perry:

That was when Sondland “started to speak about Ukraine delivering specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with the President.” Bolton then cut the meeting short, according to the testimony. Vindman wrote that after the meeting there was a debriefing where he confronted Sondland, saying “his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to get involved in or push.”

Ooops.

Sondland is in trouble. Recall his self-serving testimony?

Ambassador Sondland testified that neither Fiona Hill, nor John Bolton nor anyone else on the NSC staff ever raised any misgivings about what was going on. https://t.co/GXlkTj9Y1f pic.twitter.com/GXLebvgAFS — Kate Brannen (@K8brannen) October 29, 2019

To make it even better, Vindman is a Purple Heart warrior, unimpeachable, so to speak, a true hero.

UPDATE, more on Vindman:

Three things to know about Vindman:

1. He still works at the White House.

2. He actually heard the call.

3. He’s active duty Army, about to testify against his commander-in-chief. https://t.co/bNhsHWL7ht — Mary Louise Kelly (@NPRKelly) October 29, 2019

If you doubted that the White House knows its facing trouble, one need only watch Fox News, which is way ahead of the story, already prepping its propaganda, claiming that Vindman is … wait for it, a Ukrainian double agent:

Oh my God, look at the spin they are using right now, actually saying that Vindman is a Ukrainian double agent….this is so freaking bananas pic.twitter.com/Oxpju5W23N — Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 29, 2019

And Lindsey Graham isn’t concerned that the allegations prove that Trump has been lying all along about the “no quid pro quo,” nor is Graham concerned about the underlying crime, indeed, Graham doesn’t want you to consider any of that stuff, least of all the testimony. No, Graham wants you to worry about the fact that this was leaked at all.

Clearly Democrats continue to leak behind closed door testimony to damage President @realDonaldTrump. The NY Times story is Exhibit A in their ongoing efforts to use a sham process for the purpose of driving down Trump’s approval rating. It should come to an immediate end. https://t.co/Bm0fcWgcGb — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 29, 2019

Lindsey, the problem is Trump, not the process. The problem is we have a traitor in the White House, and possibly one in the Senate, always ready to defend him.

It’s been a long day, Zoomers, and we just learned that tomorrow is going to be quite eventful. I suggest we all get some rest, as we’ll need it.

****

Peace, y’all

Jason

jmiciak@yahoo.com and on Twitter @MiciakZoom