October 29, 2019

“Some People Might Call That Espionage.” Conservatives Smear Vindman as Double Agent

Bill Clark/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, is testifying today before House impeachment investigators. According to his prepared opening statement, Vindman contacted an NSC lawyer after Gordon Sondland—the GOP megadonor who President Donald Trump appointed as ambassador to the European Union—”emphasized the importance that Ukraine delivers the investigations” into Trump’s political enemies. Two weeks later, according to his testimony, Vindman became so alarmed after listening in to Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he once again reported his concerns to an NSC attorney. 

As a direct witness to the phone call, Vindman’s testimony will undermine one of Trump’s go-to attacks against the impeachment investigation: that so far, a number of the allegations surrounding the call have been based on second-hand information. And Vindman’s credentials—Iraq War veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart, a Harvard graduate, a respected public servant—will make his case that much more compelling.

So it’s not a surprise that Trump’s defenders are treating Vindman’s emergence as something of a crisis. Still, their attacks on him have been nothing short of stunning. On Monday, Fox News quickly began suggesting that Vindman may be some sort of double-agent for Ukraine. The basis for such an outrageous theory, according to Laura Ingraham, is the fact that Ukrainian officials “sought advice” from him about how to deal with demands from Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer—a detail Ingraham suggested that the New York Times conveniently “buried” in its report on Vindman’s opening statement.

“Here we have a US national security official who is advising Ukraine, while working inside the White House, apparently against the president’s interest, and usually, they spoke in English. Isn’t that kind of an interesting angle on this story?” Ingraham asked.

“You know, some people might call that espionage,” John Yoo, a former Justice Department official under George W. Bush, said.

Brian Kilmeade took the baton Tuesday morning on “Fox and Friends,” emphasizing that Vindman “tends to feel simpatico with the Ukraine”:

The smears extended to an ex-lawmaker, with former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy repeatedly questioning whether Vindman prioritized Ukrainian interests over US interests. “We all have an affinity to our homeland where we came from,” he told CNN.

It’s only a matter of time before Trump emerges from his anti-impeachment retweeting spree this morning to parrot the ugly line of attack. 

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate