What Went Down On Day 3 Of The Trump Impeachment Hearings

I know we started the day talking about this, but I keep thinking about the optics of Vindman sitting there. For anyone with family members who serve in uniform, the visual of him testifying is so powerful. Officers of that rank, who have given decades of their life, are conditioned not to talk politics and not to talk out of the chain of command. I think a lot of Americans will view his participation — and the fact that he reported what he heard — as signs that he must have really, deeply felt that something was wrong.

Vindman says that sometimes, information is put into the secure server to limit the number of people who can access it. In this case, he says, the decision to put the summary of this call into the secure server was made “on the fly.” He seems unwilling to say something that could indicate there was an organized coverup of the call.

We’ve seen the RNC and some in the White House seeking to undermine Vindman’s credibility already. He hasn’t been the smoothest of witnesses, but I wonder if his hesitations help his credibility. He seems to genuinely want to avoid sweeping statements or easy agreements with the Democrats’ lawyer.