Testimony in Washington provided more insight into the phone call that is at the heart of an impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump.
Two sessions were held Tuesday on Capitol Hill before a U.S. House committee, which is currently gathering information to see if Trump violated the U.S. Constitution by withholding military aid to an American ally in exchange for an investigation into a potential political opponent.
Trump is accused of asking the Ukrainian government to investigate former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who served as a board member for a Ukrainian company. Democrats on the committee contended that the military aid was dependent on that investigation. No evidence of any improper activity by either Biden has been produced, and neither has been charged with a crime. Republicans on the committee intend to prove that Trump did nothing illegal.
The morning session featured testimony from Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the top expert on Ukraine for the National Security Council, and Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice-President Mike Pence.
According to NBC, both gave their assessment of the phone call between the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on July 25. Both had listened in on the call and each told the committee that they had concerns. Vindman had referred to the call as "improper," while Williams called it "unusual" since it dealt with a domestic matter, rather than an issue pertinent to the two countries.
The testimony in the first session also brought forth the existence of a secret electronic filing system at the White House, which the whistleblower called attention to in the report that was made public in September.
Vindman, who was born in the former Soviet Union and emigrated to the U.S. as a child, was grilled by the Republican members of the committee about the identity of the whistleblower who brought the phone call to public attention, as well as Vindman's perceived loyalty.
The second session featured Kurt Volker, a former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, who also listened in on the phone call. According to ABC News, Volker testified that he felt charges by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, that former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter needed to be investigated, did not seem "credible". Volker was not on the phone call.
When the committee questioned Morrison as to whether he noticed anything improper on the call, Morrison said no, as reported by CNN.
Additional hearings have been set for Wednesday and Thursday.