Ukraine Probing Trump's Opponents to Erode US National Security - Impeachment Witness
US national security would be undermined if Ukraine investigates US President Donald Trump's political opponent Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and such action would additionally benefit Russia's objectives in the region, National Security Council (NSC) Director for European Affairs Alexander Vindman said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday
"It was also clear that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the 2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma, it would be interpreted as a partisan play," Vindman told the US House Intelligence Committee during the impeachment inquiry public hearing. "This would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing bipartisan support, undermine US national security, and advance Russia's strategic objectives in the region."
Vindman criticized Trump's personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani for allegedly advocated pressuring Ukraine to investigate possible corruption of the Bidens in their dealings with Ukraine and alleged Ukrainian meddling in the US 2016 presidential election in favor of the Democrats.
Vindman called Giuliani a disruptive actor who promotes false information that undermines the United States' policy regarding Ukraine.
"The NSC and its inter-agency partners, including the State Department, grew increasingly concerned about the impact that such information was having on our country's ability to achieve our national security objectives," Vindman said.
In September, Democrats in the House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower complaint claimed Trump may have abused the power of office. The complaint alleged that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a July 25 phone call to investigate the Bidens.
Trump released right away the transcript of the conversation and said that unlike the Bidens, there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine. Trump characterized the impeachment inquiry as yet another political witch hunt by Democrats aimed at reversing the result of the 2016 presidential election.