11:50 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020
Sen. Marsha Blackburn responds to criticism from Vindman's attorney over her tweets
From CNN's Austen Bundy
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sen. Marsha Blackburn joined Laura Ingraham on Fox News to discuss the exchange between her and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s lawyer, who responded tonight to the Tennessee Republican's criticism of Vindman as a witness in the impeachment case.
On Twitter, Blackburn claimed Vindman, a Ukraine expert, had leaked the July 25 phone call at the center of the impeachment. This claim is unsubstantiated. Blackburn also tweeted that Vindman "
wanted to take out Trump" while another tweet featured an alleged quote from Vindman's commanding officer calling him "
a political activist in uniform."
Vindman's attorney David Pressman called Blackburn's remarks "slander" and "a testament to cowardice" earlier tonight.
Blackburn addressed those comments on Fox tonight.
"Here’s the thing, you have to look at what his commanders have said. He has a problem with his judgment. That's been pointed out. He had one commander who said he is a political activist in uniform. He has had problems with going outside of his chain of command which is exactly what he did here. I talk to a lot of military members on a regular basis. They have a real problem with some of the things and the manner in which he conducted himself in this matter. What we want to do is make certain that we get to the heart of the issues here," Blackburn said.
More on Vindman's role in the impeachment inquiry: Vindman
told the House Intelligence Committee in October during a more than 10-hour closed-door deposition that he reported concerns about Trump's July 25 call with the leader of Ukraine to the top National Security Council lawyer within hours, and said some of the changes he tried to make to the since-published transcript were left out, though he didn't say why.