WaPo: Vindman Told Eisenberg That Trump’s Behavior On Ukraine Call Was ‘Wrong’

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 29: Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, arrives at a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and ... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 29: Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, arrives at a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees October 29, 2019 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Vindman was on Capitol Hill to testify to the committees for the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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White House lawyer John Einsenberg quickly placed a transcript of President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president in a secure vault after an alarmed Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman told him he thought Trump’s behavior during the call was “wrong,” the Washington Post reported.

According to people familiar with Vindman’s testimony before lawmakers, Vindman was “disturbed,” in the Post’s words, over Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rivals. Vindman reportedly told Eisenberg that “what the President did was wrong,” in the Post’s words.

Eisenberg took notes on their conversation on a yellow legal pad, according to the Post, and then suggested putting the transcript to the classified server.

It’s been previously reported that Eisenberg was the one to put the call transcript in the highly classified vault and that he did it after Vindman raised concerns about the conversation, which he listened in on. But it was not known that Vindman told lawmakers that he thought Trump’s behavior was wrong.

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  1. Avatar for erik_t erik_t says:

    The White House lawyer needs a lawyer.

  2. Next up for impeachment hearings, Eisenberg? But, of course, he won’t be able to make it.

  3. Avatar for outis outis says:

    The amount of honor evident in witnesses so far has been pretty scant. This is a nice and clear example that there is still some honor in public service (in spite of Trump’s efforts to purge all of the decent people).

  4. Avatar for ghost ghost says:

    So Eisenberg is warned, by multiple witnesses, that the president was actively committing abuses of power and, at the least, campaign law violations, and his reaction is to try to bury the evidence.

    Mr. Eisenberg is going to have some serious explaining to do. To Congress, to the public, to the Bar.

    Notably, no attorney-client privilege exists between Trump and the White House Counsel. White House Counsel represents the office of the presidency, not the president.

  5. The fear of telling Trump that he did something wrong terrified everyone around him. Then they tried to hide the problem as best they could from him and the world.

    We’re all of Trump’s minions raised by alcoholic parents?

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