The White House sent around talking points to discredit Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman before the hearing Tuesday, despite the fact that he is still an employee.
According to the Daily Beast, White House aide Julia Hahn sent two email blasts to Trump surrogates. The first centered on the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, positing that President Donald Trump didn’t actually do anything wrong, but ruffled Vindman’s feathers by ignoring his prepared talking points.
The second focused on Vindman’s “credibility,” citing complains about his judgement made by his onetime boss and fellow witness in the inquiry, former NSC aide Tim Morrison.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in particular clung to the second email, doing a whole line of questioning based on the comment from Morrison’s deposition.
It made for one of the most tense scenes of the hearing, as Vindman fixed Jordan with a steely gaze and read aloud from a job evaluation written about him by former NSC senior director Fiona Hill, where she praises his “excellent judgement.”
Morrison stuck by his comments about Vindman having questionable judgment and being a potential leaker during his testimony, even after Vindman’s vehement self-defense.
During the hearing, the White House made no secret of its anti-Vindman stance, with the official government account tweeting out a graphic of Morrison’s statement while Vindman was before the committee.
Tim Morrison, Alexander Vindman’s former boss, testified in his deposition that he had concerns about Vindman’s judgment. pic.twitter.com/xwHOt4bsHS
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 19, 2019
