Ron Johnson goes after witness set to testify in impeachment inquiry

Source: Politico | November 18, 2019 | Marianne Levine

The Wisconsin senator questioned the credibility of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

Sen. Ron Johnson sought to undermine a key White House official who is set to testify Tuesday in the ongoing public impeachment hearings.

Johnson (R-Wis.), in a letter sent Monday to House Republicans, questioned the credibility of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine specialist with the National Security Council who listened in on President Donald Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president, in which Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate his political rivals.

“A significant number of bureaucrats and staff members within the executive branch have never accepted President Trump as legitimate and resent his unorthodox style and his intrusion onto their ‘turf’,” Johnson wrote. “They react by leaking to the press and participating in the ongoing effort to sabotage his policies and, if possible, remove him from office. It is entirely possible that Vindman fits this profile.”

Johnson’s letter comes after the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) requested that the Wisconsin Republican provide firsthand knowledge of Trump’s actions toward Ukraine between April 2019 and September 2019.

Johnson joined a delegation to Ukraine with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland, the former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and Vindman in May and later discussed the trip with Trump.

In his letter, Johnson recalled that Vindman said on the trip that it was the National Security Council’s position that the United States’ relationship with Ukraine remain “separate from our geopolitical competition with Russia,” a point Johnson questioned.

……..

Johnson concluded his letter by questioning the motivations of the whistleblower who raised concerns about Trump’s July 25 call that helped spark the impeachment inquiry, writing that “not all whistleblowers are created equal.”

“If the whistleblower’s intention was to improve and solidify the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine, he or she failed miserably,” Johnson wrote. “ All the complaint has accomplished is to fuel the House’s impeachment desire (which I believe was the real motivation), and damage our democracy.”

Tagged: , , , , , ,

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.