The second week of impeachment hearings kicks off Tuesday with the testimony of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman at 9am—a man the Washington Post considers one of the Democrats' "star witnesses." Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient who is the National Security Council's top Ukraine specialist, is expected to say that he found President Trump's request for Ukraine's president to investigate the Bidens "disturbing." "I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen," Vindman said in closed-door testimony last month. Vindman listened in on the July 25 call, as did Mike Pence aide Jennifer Williams, who will also testify Tuesday morning. More:
- GOP attacks. Vindman, who reported his concerns about Trump's conduct to the NSC's lead counsel, has been denounced as a "Never Trumper" by the president, whose allies have also gone on the attack. Sen. Ron Johnson said Monday that it was "entirely possible" that Vindman was among "bureaucrats and staff members within the executive branch" who have "never accepted President Trump as legitimate" and want to remove him from office.