NSC staffer denies having secret Ukraine conversations with Trump

NSC staffer denies having secret Ukraine conversations with Trump

Jonathan Swan at Axios

https://www.axios.com/national-security-council-staffer-denies-secret-ukraine-conversations-trump-e850964a-a743-4a81-94f4-6630f7f8cc77.html

"SNIP.....

Kash Patel, a senior National Security Council official accused of running a secret backchannel to President Trump on Ukraine matters, has categorically denied ever discussing Ukraine with the president.


......


Between the lines: Hill said that when she heard from another NSC staffer about Patel's supposed involvement on Ukraine, she considered it to be so "strange" and alarming that she reported it to her superior.

Hill said, however, that she never found out what actually went on with Patel and that her superior, Charles Kupperman, never got back to her after telling her he'd look into the matter.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an NSC official who testified before impeachment investigators, also mentioned Patel in his testimony.

Vindman testified that Hill told him that Patel was misrepresenting himself as an Ukraine expert and the president had come to believe Patel was in charge of Ukraine policy on the NSC.

.......SNIP"