Ukraine expert testifies in impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON—Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a top expert on Ukraine on the National Security Council, told House lawmakers Tuesday that a White House summary omitted critical details of the July 25 call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked the House impeachment investigation of Trump.

Do the details change the understanding of the call? So far, the witnesses in the investigation seem to agree on the main points of the call but disagree on whether the president breached rules or protocol. Vindman’s information lines up with the whistleblower complaint and Trump’s description of the call: He claimed Trump referenced tapes of former Vice President Joe Biden discussing Ukrainian corruption. He also said Zelensky mentioned a company that had Biden’s son Hunter as a board member. Vindman said he pushed to include the omissions in the summary released to the public. U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland said no one from the National Security Council raised such concerns to him.

Dig deeper: Listen to Wednesday morning’s newscast from The World and Everything In It to hear details on the Democrats’ resolution formalizing the impeachment process.