国会共和党人继续他们明显的活动，通过暗示这位退伍军人对乌克兰有双重忠诚，对亚历山大·温德曼中校(唐纳德·特朗普总统弹劾调查的关键证人)表示怀疑。
这项指控是在温德曼周二早上向众议院情报委员会作证时提出的。国家安全委员会(National Security Council)的乌克兰问题高级专家温德曼在闭门会议上告诉议员，特朗普和他的共和党盟友对总统7月25日与乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽林斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskiy)的电话感到震惊，此举激怒了特朗普和他的共和党盟友。
该小组共和党人的律师史蒂夫·卡斯特(Steve Castor)试图通过质疑一名乌克兰高级官员如何再三要求他考虑担任国家国防部长，来质疑温德曼对美国的忠诚。
“你有没有想过，如果这些信息泄露出去，至少会让人产生冲突的感觉？”他问道。
“每一次，我都拒绝它，”温德曼反驳道，并补充道，每次乌克兰官员提出请求，他都会通知情报部门的指挥链。
“我是美国人。我小时候来过这里。我立即拒绝了这些提议，没有招待他们，”温德曼说。他补充说，“整个概念相当滑稽。”
攻击温德曼作为乌克兰裔美国移民的背景已经成为共和党人反复使用的策略，因为他们试图诋毁他作为证人的名声。温德曼的家人逃离乌克兰，当时乌克兰是苏联的一部分，3岁时移居美国。
上个月在福克斯新闻上，劳拉·英格拉哈姆和她的客人约翰·刘也被告这位因与乌克兰有私人关系而被授勋的间谍老兵。
“我们这里有一位美国国家安全官员，他在白宫工作时为乌克兰提供建议，显然违背了总统的利益，而且通常他们用英语交谈。这个故事难道不是一个有趣的角度吗？”英格拉姆说。
美国国家安全委员会欧洲事务主任亚历山大·温德曼中校于2019年11月19日抵达华盛顿特区国会山朗沃斯众议院办公大楼，在众议院情报委员会作证。该委员会在弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统调查的第三天公开听证会上听取了证词。众议院民主党人表示，特朗普总统拒绝美国对乌克兰的军事援助，以换取乌克兰对其政治对手的调查。
周一，在温德曼将出现在国会山的前一天，威斯康辛州的罗恩·约翰逊参议员据报道在给众议院共和党人的一封信中写道，温德曼符合所谓“永不通敌”的形象这位参议员声称，温德曼是行政部门的一名成员，他从未接受特朗普的总统职位，并“做出反应，向媒体泄露消息，参与正在进行的破坏他的政策的活动，如果可能的话，将他免职。”
在周二的开幕词中，温德曼认为出席国会是美国梦的一部分。他指出，如果他仍然生活在俄罗斯的影响之下，报道他对总统与乌克兰沟通的担忧将会产生“严重的个人和职业影响”，他的公开证词“肯定会让我付出生命的代价”
“爸爸，我今天坐在这里，在美国国会大厦和我们选出的官员谈话，证明了40年前你做出了正确的决定，离开苏联来到美国，为我们的家庭寻求更好的生活，”温德曼补充道。“别担心。我可以说实话。”
随后在听证会上，康涅狄格州民主党众议员詹姆斯·希姆斯抨击共和党人试图玷污温德曼的名声，“仅仅是因为你的家人，像许多美国家庭一样，移民到了美国。
“我想让人们明白这是怎么回事。这是你为站不住脚的人辩护时说的话，”他说。
GOP ATTACKS ALEXANDER VINDMAN'S U.S. LOYALTY IN STRATEGY TO DISCREDIT HIM DURING TRUMP IMPEACHMENT HEARING
Congressional Republicans continued their apparent campaign to cast doubt about Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — a key witness in the impeachment probe against President Donald Trump — by suggesting the military veteran has a dual loyalty to Ukraine.
The accusation came during Vindman's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday morning. Vindman, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, earned the ire of Trump and his GOP allies when he told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that he was alarmed by the president's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Steve Castor, the counsel for Republicans on the panel, tried to raise doubts about Vindman's loyalty to the United States through questions about how a top Ukrainian official repeatedly asked him to consider serving as the nation's defense minister.
"Did you ever think that possibly, if this information got out, that it might create at least the perception of a conflict?" he asked.
"Every single time, I dismissed it," Vindman countered, adding that he notified the chain of command within the intelligence community each time the Ukrainian official made the request.
"I'm an American. I came here when I was a toddler. I immediately dismissed these offers, did not entertain them," Vindman said. He added that the "whole notion is rather comical."
Attacking Vindman's background as a Ukrainian-American immigrant has become a repeated tactic for Republicans as they seek to discredit him as a witness. Vindman's family fled Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, and moved to the U.S. when he was 3.
On Fox News last month, Laura Ingraham and her guest John Yoo also accused the decorated military veteran of espionage because of his personal connection to Ukraine.
"Here we have a U.S. national security official who is advising Ukraine, while working inside the White House, apparently against the president's interest, and usually, they spoke in English. Isn't that kind of an interesting angle on this story?" Ingraham said.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, National Security Council Director for European Affairs, arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill November 19, 2019 in Washington, D.C. The committee heard testimony during the third day of open hearings in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, who House Democrats say withheld U.S. military aid for Ukraine in exchange for Ukrainian investigations of his political rivals.
On Monday, the day before Vindman was due to appear on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin reportedly wrote in a letter to House Republicans that Vindman fits the profile of a so-called "Never Trumper." The senator alleged that Vindman was a member of the executive branch who has never accepted Trump's presidency and "react by leaking to the press and participating in the ongoing effort to sabotage his policies and, if possible, remove him from office."
In his opening statement on Tuesday, Vindman argued that appearing before Congress was part of the American dream. He noted that if he still lived under Russia's influence, reporting his concerns about the president's communication with Ukraine would have " severe personal and professional repercussions" and his public testimony would "surely cost me my life."
"Dad, my sitting here today, in the U.S. Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family," Vindman added. "Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth."
Later on during the hearing, Democratic Rep. James Himes of Connecticut slammed Republicans for attempting to tarnish Vindman's reputation based "only on the fact that your family, like many American families, immigrated to the United States.
"I want people to understand what that was all about. It's the kind of thing you say when you're defending the indefensible," Himes said.
