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(CN) – Upon hearing concerns from the top Ukraine adviser about President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president, White House lawyer John Eisenberg proposed moving a transcript of the call to a private server and restricting access to it, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified the new information to House investigators on Tuesday, according to people familiar with his testimony. Vindman was one of the officials listening in on the call, and was concerned about Trump’s request to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy investigate his political rival Joe Biden and son, Hunter.
Vindman approached Eisenberg and said the president was wrong to ask Zelenskiy for the favor, according to The Post’s sources who spoke anonymously due to the ongoing investigation. Eisenberg, along with White House lawyer Mike Ellis, were asked Wednesday by House investigators to testify on Monday.
Vindman’s testimony is the first to provide a firsthand account of connecting Eisenberg to the movement of the transcript to a classified server with limited access.
He also testified that he approached Eisenberg after a July 10 meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. officials at the White House. Vindman said U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland pressured the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens, as well as Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that Hunter Biden had served on its board.
Eisenberg formerly worked for the Washington branch of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis before taking on the role of deputy White House counsel under the Trump administration. He previously worked in the Justice Department under the George W. Bush administration.
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