Before He Even Testifies, Impeachment Witness Attacked By Pundits-And Trump

Topline: Before he even testified before Congress on Tuesday about why he was concerned after listening to President Trump's now-infamous July phone call with the Ukrainian president, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman's motives were questioned (with no evidence) by conservative pundits and Trump.

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• In an early Tuesday tweetstorm, Trump decried Vindman, a decorated Iraq War veteran, as a "Never Trumper witness," and asked, "Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call[?]" (There is no evidence that Vindman identifies as a "Never Trump" conservative.)
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• Sean Duffy, a Republican and former Wisconsin congressman, said, "I don't know that [Vindman is] concerned about American policy," because "he has an affinity for the Ukraine" during a Tuesday morning CNN appearance - though Duffy gave no evidence of Vindman's "affinity for the Ukraine."
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• Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade appeared to echo the same talking points as Duffy, saying Vindman "tends to feel simpatico with the Ukraine" in a Tuesday segment, without offering any proof.
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• John Yoo, a USC Berkeley law professor, suggested Vindman committed espionage during a panel segment of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News Monday night.
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• According to his his opening statement to House investigators as part of the impeachment inquiry, Vindman planned on telling Congress he has dedicated his entire career to the United States⁠ and that he is not the whistleblower who tipped off the impeachment inquiry.

Chief critics: Writers at The Atlantic (" Trump's Defenders Are Now Attacking the Patriotism of a Purple Heart Officer"), Esquire (" Trump's Propaganda Network Smeared Ukraine Witness Alexander Vindman Almost Instantly"), CNN (" The appalling GOP attacks on a US military officer's patriotism are next-level"), and the Washington Post (" A new witness is about to damage Trump. Fox News is already smearing him "), among others.

Crucial quote: "I have served this country in a nonpartisan manner, and have done so with the utmost respect and professionalism for both Republican and Democratic administrations," Vindman will tell Congress, according to his prepared testimony.

Key background: Vindman's family fled from their native Soviet Union as refugees and settled in the United States in 1979, when he was 3 years old. Vindman and his twin brother, Yevgeny, went on to serve in the U.S. military⁠-both attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel⁠-before the brothers joined the National Security Council. According to the New York Times, Vindman became concerned in July that Trump was pressuring his administration to investigate Joe Biden and alerted his supervisor twice out of a "sense of duty."

Surprising fact: The Times also reported that Vindman drafted a letter in May congratulating Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on his inauguration, and a memo in August to restart Ukraine's withheld security aid, but Trump wouldn't sign either.

Tangent: Although Trump is referring to the July 25 phone call records as a transcript, it is not actually a transcript. The released records are considered a memo, because it is not a word-for-word transcript of what was said.