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A member of the National Security Council is before the Congress Committee, in camera. He will probably confirm what has been said so far about Donald Trump's conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart. This is the first time that a direct witness of the exchange testifies.
With our correspondent in New York, Loubna Anaki
Lieutenant-Colonel Vindman is one of the few people to have listened directly to the famous telephone conversation of July 25th. On Tuesday morning, he showed up in Congress in his military uniform and against White House directives that he had been told not to cooperate.
The US media got a copy of his speech. The lieutenant-colonel tells how, as and when he was worried about the actions of the administration on the Ukraine.
As an expert on the file, he sits on the National Security Council and participates in meetings dealing with this area. In particular, he recalls a meeting at the White House with a Ukrainian delegation where Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, began to discuss the need for an investigation into Joe Biden .
► See also: Trump cut aid to Ukraine to force it to investigate the Democrats
Lieutenant-Colonel Vindman explains that he then clearly told the ambassador that this was not appropriate and did not serve the interests of the United States. He goes on to say how alarmed he was to hear the president ask the same thing to his counterpart on the phone.
" I then warned my superiors and told them of my concerns, " he says, adding that if he has agreed to testify today, it is " a sense of duty ".
A career soldier, decorated with the prestigious Purple Heart, he describes himself as a patriot who served under Democratic and Republican presidents.
This morning, Donald Trump again criticized this procedure by saying once again that there was " nothing inappropriate in the phone call ".
► See also: The testimony of a tragic diplomat Trump in the Ukrainian case