As the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry enters its second week of public hearings, a recurring theme has emerged: Veteran government officials, conditioned by years of training to believe that America’s leaders act solely in the best interests of the nation, come to understand only reluctantly what now seems beyond question — that President Donald Trump and his henchmen spent months carrying out a secretive nearly $400 million extortion plot against the new Ukraine government to help him win re-election in 2020.
On Tuesday the part was played by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the White House’s top Ukraine expert, and Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.