What Went Down On Day 3 Of The Trump Impeachment Hearings
Were Details Omitted From The July 25 Call Summary?
One of the big questions surrounding Trump’s July 25 call with Zelensky is whether the summary released by the White House is complete — or whether important details were omitted. When the summary was released in September, observers pounced on a handful of ellipses at key moments in the document, wondering if key words or phrases were missing. The White House said it was just Trump trailing off.
Today’s witnesses, though, have thrown that explanation in doubt. Vindman, who was listening to the call, said that he had suggested edits to the transcript, which had omitted Trump saying “there are recordings” of Joe Biden talking about corruption in Ukraine and Zelensky referring specifically to Burisma, the company where Hunter Biden served on the board. Williams, who also heard the call, said that she specifically jotted down “Burisma” in her notebook — and that she didn’t know why it didn’t appear in the publicly released version of the call.
Yeah, Vindman really stepped up his language there, saying it was “improper” and “inappropriate” for the president to “demand” an investigation. He said that in military culture, rank and chain of command help underscore the importance of requests. Calling on that frame of mind, he said the “power disparity between the two leaders” made it clear the president’s words were more of a “demand.” I keep thinking how hard it must be, how weighty it is, for a man in uniform to give his thoughts related to the commander in chief.
Vindman isn’t the only witness to say he was concerned about what would happen if Trump’s request to Zelensky became public. Morrison, who is testifying this afternoon, said he wasn’t concerned that Trump had done something illegal — but he was worried about the implications for Ukraine policy if the call became public, specifically that aid to Ukraine could become a partisan issue.