Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) grilled U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman during Democrats’ impeachment inquiry hearing on Tuesday in the House Intelligence Committee, highlighting the fact that Vindman’s bosses had concerns about his judgment and thought he might be leaking information.
“This afternoon, your former boss, [Tim] Morrison, is going to be sitting right where you are sitting and he’s going to testify and I want to give you a chance to respond to some of the things Mr. Morrison said in his deposition,” Jordan said. “Mr. Morrison said this, ‘I had concerns about Lieutenant Colonel Vindman’s judgment … among the discussions I had with Dr. [Fiona] Hill and the transition team, its strengths, [and] its weaknesses, and Fiona and others had raised concerns about Alex’s judgment.'”
Jordan noted Vindman’s boss had indicated that others had come to him and expressed concerns that Vindman was leaking information.
“So your boss had concerns about your judgment,” Jordan said. “Your former boss, Dr. Hill, had concerns about your judgment. Your colleagues had concerns about your judgment. And your colleagues felt that there were times when you leaked information. Any idea why they have those impressions, Colonel Vindman?”
Jordan then noted that Vindman’s own boss did not see any problem with the call that President Donald Trump had on July 25th with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but that he was concerned that it might get leaked and worried about how it would play out in the current hyper-partisan atmosphere.
WATCH:
.@Jim_Jordan absolutely wrecks some key talking points from Democrats on #TrumpImpeachment. It also gives the impression that @RepAdamSchiff lied about now knowing who the whistleblower is. I expect @realdonaldtrump will jump on this. pic.twitter.com/N9yvzC2DdW
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) November 19, 2019
Later in the hearing, Jordan grilled Vindman over his decision to go around his boss and tell others about his concerns with Trump’s Ukraine phone call.
Jordan then highlighted apparent contradictions between Vindman’s prior statements and the statements that he was making during the public hearing.
“You didn’t go to your boss,” Jordan asked. “You went straight to the lawyer and the lawyer told you not to go to your boss?”
“No, he didn’t tell me until, what ended up unfolding is I had the conversation with the attorney, I did my coordination — my core function, which is coordination — I spoke to the appropriate people within the inner agency and then circling back around, Mr. Eisenberg came back to me and told me not to talk to anyone else,” Vindman responded.
“I’m going to read from the transcript here, ‘Why didn’t you go to your report, Mr. Morrison?,'” Jordan said as he read the transcript of Vindman’s deposition. “Your response was, ‘Because Mr. Eisenberg told me to take my concerns to him.’ Then I asked you, ‘Did Mr. Eisenberg tell you not to report, to go around Mr. Morrison?’ And you said, ‘actually he did say that I shouldn’t talk to any other people.’ Is that right?”
“Yes, but there’s a whole period of time in there between when I spoke to him and when he circled back around,” Vindman responded. “It wasn’t that long of a period of time but it was enough time for me to —”
“Enough time for you to go and talk to someone that you won’t tell us who it is —” Jordan responded.
“I’ve been instructed not to,” Vindman responded.
“Here’s what I’m getting at, the lawyer told you don’t talk to any other people and you interpret that as not talking to your boss, but you talked to your brother, you talked to the lawyers, you talked to Secretary Kent, and you talked to the one guy Adam Schiff won’t let you tell us who he is,” Jordan responded. “Is that right?”
“Representative Jordan, I did my job,” Vindman replied.
WATCH:
Rep @Jim_Jordan wonders why Vindman didn’t go to his boss to discuss concerns over the Ukrainian phone call. He talked with someone — presumably the whistleblower — but won’t tell the American people or this Congress who. pic.twitter.com/wj9D94O4pn
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) November 19, 2019