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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
David Smith in Washington

Trump tried to extort Zelenskyy and was impeached – now he may succeed

a man in a suit looks at a man in a black sweater
Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at Trump Tower in New York on 27 September 2024. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Alexander Vindman remembers the phone call – and what he did next. Serving on the national security council (NSC), he went to see his twin brother, who was the council’s senior ethics official, closed the door and told him: “Eugene, if what I’m about to tell you ever becomes public, Donald Trump will be impeached.”

Vindman had set up a call between Trump and Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in July 2019. He heard the US president attempt to leverage US military aid to the country in return for Zelenskyy launching an investigation into Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, over his position at a Ukrainian gas company.

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