IMPEACHMENT/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UKRAINE: “A senior White House official told House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he believed President Donald Trump undermined national security when he appealed to Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rivals, according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by POLITICO. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman spent more than 10 hours behind closed doors with lawmakers and aides, providing his firsthand account of how the president’s posture toward Ukraine sent shudders through the highest levels of the U.S. national security apparatus…Vindman, who became the first White House official to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry, also wrote that he reported Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky to the NSC’s top lawyer after listening in on the conversation from the White House Situation Room alongside other national security officials. It was the second time Vindman had raised concerns to the NSC’s lead counsel about a campaign by Trump, his associates and some U.S. officials to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations intended to benefit Trump politically.”
–Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney, “NSC official testifies Trump undermined national security with Ukraine pressure,” Politico, October 28, 2019 8:29 pm