Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. Read more opinion on CNN.
The most poignant, the most telling moment in Tuesday’s impeachment hearing came near the end of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s opening remarks, when he addressed his father, the man who brought his family to America. “Dad,” he said, “my sitting here today … is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States.” He went on: “Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”
There, in a few seconds, is the outline of this American political drama: There are two sides. One is patriotic, idealistic, embracing old-fashioned beliefs in this nation. The other is pugilistic, bullying, determined to punch down and suck up: punch down anyone who dares to cross President Donald Trump, even if their targets are acting for the sake of the United States … and suck up to the President.
Vindman, not unlike Marie Yovanovitch – who was ousted by Trump from her envoy post in Ukraine – has described his profound gratitude, admiration and commitment to advancing the ideals of the country that gave refuge to his family as they fled totalitarianism.
The other side? Trump and his backers, who attack, smear and disparage, testing defensive theories and strategies that range from wild conspiracies to outright lies.
Yovanovitch’s parents left Eastern Europe for Canada, where she was born, before settling in the United States. Vindman was born in then-Soviet Ukraine and immigrated as a toddler with his father, twin brother and older brother to the United States.
He has served in South Korea, Iraq and elsewhere, was awarded a Purple Heart for an injury he received from an improvised explosive device, and has dedicated his adult life to serving his nation. So have his brothers.
While working as the Ukraine expert in the White House, Lt. Col. Vindman was in the Situation Room on July 25, he said, listening to Trump answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plea for military aid to defend against an ongoing Russian invasion of his country by saying, “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
Trump, as we have learned from multiple sources, allegedly was holding the aid until Zelensky announced an investigation into his top Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, along with a discredited Russia-friendly theory of the 2016 election interference making the rounds in right-wing media. (Trump denies these were his motivations.) Vindman called it, “a Russian narrative that President Putin has promoted.”
Like everyone who has testified, Vindman said he has no political agenda – his agenda is only service to his country. He was immediately concerned after the call and went up the chain of command.
Asking for Ukraine to go after a domestic political opponent, he told the committee, was harmful to America. It “would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing bipartisan support, undermine US national security and advance Russia’s strategic objectives.” He reported the call because Trump’s actions “had significant national security implications for our country.”
To questions about whether Trump’s “favor” was a request or a demand (the latter would mean extortion, pressure for a bribe) Vindman was persuasive. He described his military experience interacting with people with greater power. “When a senior asks you to do something – even if it’s polite and pleasant – it’s not to be taken as a request. It’s to be taken as an order.”
This is the testimony of a man who on Tuesday wore his uniform as his resume; who said that as a youngster he decided to spend his life serving his adopted country; who heard the President of the United States act in a way that could harm the nation he loves. This is a conclusion, incidentally, reached by countless people who have learned the details of Trump’s parallel Ukraine policy, which undercut the official policy of the United States.
To that, one might expect at least a faint whiff of patriotism from his Republican questioners on the committee. One would be disappointed – one is disappointed, disheartened.
Instead, Trump’s House defenders played to the Fox News audience in hopes of barricading against a potential drop in his approval ratings, which might cause Senate Republicans to turn against Trump. To do that, the GOP questioners peppered Vindman and Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was also concerned about Trump’s unusual Ukraine policy, with details of wild, unfounded conspiracy theories on Biden and Ukraine.
And so the Democrats’ counsel asked them directly, “are you aware of any credible allegations or evidence to support this notion that Vice President Biden did something wrong or against US policy with regard to Ukraine?” Both said no.
Vindman and most of the other witnesses who have defied Trump administration orders not to testify, have – one after the other – explained their unquestioning commitment to their country; to a policy in Ukraine that was meant to promote democratic reforms, freedom; a policy meant to help Ukraine come into its own against a rapacious, aggressive, undemocratic, corrupt Russia.
The witnesses laying out the case that Trump did something harmful to America have described the ideals on which this country was built, they have been reminiscent, almost, of Ronald Reagan in their patriotism, of George Washington in their non-partisanship.
To battle these high-minded public servants, the President attacks them, suggests they are “human scum,” his Republican supporters question their loyalty, insult them.
Why did Vindman have to reassure his father that he is safe? The Army is concerned about his and his family’s security, and (The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday) “is prepared to move Col. Vindman and his family onto a military base in the area to ensure their security if it is determined that they are in physical danger.”
But Vindman said he believes in the promise of the country. “I will be fine for telling the truth,” he told his father. Let’s hope the truth also protects America from powerful figures more interested in defending one man than the nation whose Constitution they swore to defend.
