Liz Cheney calls out Trump allies' 'shameful' attacks on impeachment witness and decorated veteran Lt. Col. Vindman

President Trump's allies want to hear a wider impeachment story.

Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, is set to testify Tuesday that he found Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president worthy of reporting to a superior. That prompted smears against Vindman from Trump backers — something House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) quickly shut down.

Once it became clear that Vindman's testimony could be damaging to Trump, former GOP congressmember and current CNN contributor Sean Duffy decided to attack Vindman's Ukrainian birthplace. "I don't know that he's concerned about American policy," Duffy alleged, claiming without evidence that Vindman "has an affinity for the Ukraine."

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Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, took issue with that. "It is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this country," Cheney said of Vindman, Politico's Jake Sherman reported.

Cheney's split is yet another instance of top Republicans fracturing from Trump in the impeachment debate. William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified last week that he was told aid was being withheld until Ukraine agreed to investigate the Bidens and the 2016 election. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, commented that "the picture coming out of" Taylor's testimony was "not a good one." Kathryn Krawczyk

Editor's note: This article initially misidentified Cheney's state affiliation. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.