On day three of impeachment hearings, Republicans spent considerable time attacking Lt. Col Alexander Vindman. During Tuesday’s questioning, Vindman, who is the top Ukraine specialist on the National Security Council, expressed steadfast loyalty to the United States, in spite of the fact that Republicans tried to obscure his answers and attack from all sides—including thinly veiled suggestions that he, as a Ukrainian-born (when it was still the Soviet Union) immigrant, can’t possibly be loyal to the U.S.
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First, as covered at Daily Kos, Vindman took a moment to speak to the audience—and specifically, his dad—about why he’s doing what he’s doing. “Dad, my sitting here today, in the U.S. Capitol,” Vindman said during his opening statement Tuesday morning, “talking to our elected professionals, is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”
At one point, Republican counsel Steve Castor brought up that Vindman has received job offers from Ukrainians. The implication, here, being that Vindman’s loyalty might have been compromised.
After a bit of back-and-forth, Castor asked this pretty directly, saying, "Did you ever think that possibly, if this information got out, that it might create at least the perception of a conflict?" to which Vindman replied, "Every single time, I dismissed it. I'm an American. I came here when I was a toddler. I immediately dismissed these offers, did not entertain them," Vindman continued, adding that the "whole notion is rather comical." “Comical” puts it politely!
Job offers aside, what was Castor trying to achieve here? He was seemingly trying to instill doubt about whether or not Vindman (who is, for the record, a decorated Iraq war veteran) is actually loyal to the U.S. Which is not only ridiculous but as social media users were quick to point out, a harmful trope often rooted in anti-Semitism, as well as clearly being xenophobic. Implying that a person whose family left the Soviet Union (which was rife with anti-Semitism) is somehow more loyal to Ukraine is not only offensive but disturbing. It’s also not the first time this unfounded accusation has come up: pundit Laura Ingraham has also accused Vindman of being a double agent.
Later, Democratic Rep. James Himes called out Republicans for trying to smear Vindman based "only on the fact that your family, like many American families, immigrated to the United States.”
First, here’s that emotional opening statement from Vindman:
Many are calling out the subtle (or, really, not-so-subtle) anti-Semitism in the attacks on Vindman:
Matthew Simkowitz and Yelena Biberman of The Washington Post have a thorough deep dive into the history of Jewish people fleeing the Soviet Union, which is absolutely worth a read. Julia Ioffe also wrote an excellent analysis on Vindman and this bizarre and anti-Semitic attack over at GQ.
Here is Vindman’s full opening statement: