WASHINGTON — Democrats released a transcript Friday of a closed-door interview lawmakers had last month with Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Army officer assigned to the National Security Council.
Vindman, who served as National Security Council Director for European Affairs, appeared Oct. 29 for a closed-door interview with the House Intelligence, Oversight and Reform and Foreign Affairs committees. The committees are spearheading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
Vindman said he alerted superiors on two occasions to concerns he had over Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democrats, including after he listened to the July call in which Trump personally appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate political rival Joe Biden and the outlier theory of a Ukrainian role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Vindman testified that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Ukrainians they would need to investigate the Bidens if they hoped to have a coveted meeting with Trump.
Democrats launched the impeachment inquiry after learning of a whistleblower complaint filed in August by an official concerned over Trump's attempts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Read the full transcript released Friday:
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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