National Security Council Ukraine expert Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is a decorated Iraq War veteran, who spoke out to a Congressional hearing Tuesday. In his opening statement, Vindman said that he focused on his sense of duty when deciding whether to testify against the president.
Republicans have worked to undermine and attack witnesses, particularly the whistleblower who filed a complaint alerting Congress President Donald Trump was using military funds to Ukraine to demand they open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.
When speaking to MSNBC about the hearing, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul went off on Trump's allies, who are working to attack the integrity of the veteran.
"First, I know Colonel Vindman; we served together in Moscow," McFaul said. "He was a military attaché there. A first-rate officer, knows Russia, knows Ukraine. One of the best and the brightest. And when I hear this disparagement of him by some people allegedly claiming this might be an allegation of espionage, it really angers me."
McFaul called the claim outrageous for Republicans to destroy a soldier that spoke out only because he took his sense of duty seriously.
"It is outrageous, and it needs to stop," an angry McFaul told MSNBC. "This is somebody who has served on the battlefield and off. You can disagree with his actions, and we can talk about that, but you cannot attack his integrity, and you certainly cannot slander him because of his ethnicity. It really bothers me. Sorry."
McFaul said that Vindman was reaffirming what was already known and revealed by both the whistleblower and the White House summary of the Ukraine call.
"He happened to be on the call, and what you have here is just clear as day, it is the use of a public office, in this case, the Oval Office, the president of the United States, for private personal gain in his reelection efforts for 2020," he continued. "It's just clear as day. There should be no argument about what the facts are. The argument is whether that's right or wrong and an impeachable offense or not, but the facts are clear, and Col. Vindman is adding more detail to what we already know."
Watch the full panel below:
