While the Democrats in the House of Representatives are taking the next steps in the impeachment of US President Donald Trump, a senior US officer, according to media reports, is on the verge of severely straining Trump in the Ukraine affair. This is reported by the "New York Times", the "Washington Post" and the CNN channel.
According to Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Vindman, the leading expert on the National Security Council for Ukraine, at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in the House of Representatives, he said he was deeply disturbed by Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj in July and passed his concerns on to his supervisor , The media relied on a draft of its opening statement.
"All of this would undermine US national security."
"I did not think it appropriate to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was concerned about the consequences that might have on US government support for Ukraine," the media quoted in the statement Military officers continue. He realized that if Ukraine opened an investigation against Joe Biden, his son Hunter and the Ukrainian natural gas company, it would interpret this as a party political game, which would undoubtedly lead to Ukraine losing its non-partisan support. "All of this would undermine US national security." His concerns he had passed on to his superiors.
According to the Washington Post, Vindman belonged to a small group of White House staff members who overheard Trump's phone call with Selenskyi. "I was worried about the phone call," the media cite Vindman further from the message.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives want to hold a plenary vote for the first time this week on the preparations for impeachment Trump. The spokeswoman for the parliamentary chamber, Nancy Pelosi, announced in a letter to parliamentarians. Thus, the White House could no longer use the absence of a plenary decision as a "baseless" excuse to boycott the investigation.
"Nobody is above the law"
The move was designed to "dispel any doubt" as to whether the government could refuse to withhold documents and witnesses from MPs, Pelosi said. "No one is above the law," said the Democrat. According to US media reports, the plenary vote is scheduled for Thursday.
According to the Democrats, Trump is said to have demanded that Ukraine investigate Joe Biden's son Hunter. Trump is said to have used the restraint of about 400 million US dollars in aid as a means of pressure. Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma until last April. Trump accuses him and his father of corruption. Biden senior is among the most promising candidates for the presidential candidacy of the Democrats in the November 2020 election - in which Trump will stand for re-election for the Republicans.
The Democrats had begun preparations for the impeachment trial last month after new allegations against Trump became known. Trump rejects this as a "witch hunt".