Tag: Lt. Col. Vindman

Former NSC Aide Vindman Says Trump Is Putin’s ‘Useful Idiot’

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the decorated war hero who retired from the Army in July after calling out “intimidation” from the White House, said in an interview published Monday morning that Trump is a “useful idiot” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Donald Trump fired Vindman from the National Security Council in February, a move largely seen as retaliation for Vindman’s congressional testimony during the House impeachment investigation.

“President Trump should be considered to be a useful idiot and a fellow traveler, which makes him an unwitting agent of Putin,” Vindman said in an interview with the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Continue reading.

White House officials sent document to Pentagon criticizing Vindman after impeachment testimony

The Pentagon got the document as Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was on track to be promoted to colonel. Sources said the accusations could block a promotion if found to be true.

WASHINGTON — The National Security Council sent a list of allegations about Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to the Pentagon after he testified before the House in impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, according to a person who has seen the document and two others who were briefed on it.

The Pentagon received the document, which alleged that Vindman created a hostile work environment at the NSC, as he was on track to be promoted to colonel. The accusations outlined in it, if substantiated, would have kept him from moving up a rank in the Army, the people familiar with the document said. They said it was not the typical evaluation that military officers serving on the NSC are given when their temporary positions end and they are set to return to the Defense Department, as Vindman was scheduled to do about six months after the document was sent to the Pentagon.

The NSC is housed in the White House and chaired by the president, although it’s managed day to day by the national security adviser. Continue reading.

Schiff to Vindman: ‘Right does not matter to Trump. But it matters to you’

The Hill logoHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the House Democrats who led the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, on Wednesday thanked Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman for participating in the proceedings after Vindman announced that he was retiring from the Army. 

Schiff wrote in a letter to Vindman that his testimony during the inquiry stuck with him because of the military officer’s stated belief that in the U.S., “right matters.” Schiff also took aim at Trump’s “bullying and retaliation,” writing that Vindman should not have had “to choose between your oath of office and your career.”

“Right matters. Right does not matter to Donald Trump. But it matters to you. It matters to this country and to its people. It will always matter,” Schiff wrote. “And with those words, you have left an indelible mark on our nations’ conscience and history. For if right does not matter in our country, if truth does not matter, then we are truly lost.” Continue reading.

Duckworth doesn’t back down following Vindman retirement

Illinois Democrat demands more information on this ‘disgraceful situation’

Sen. Tammy Duckworth will keep her hold on more than 1,100 military promotions in place despite Wednesday’s announcement of the retirement of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key witness in the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The Illinois Democrat announced the hold on Thursday amid concerns that Vindman would not receive a promotion to the rank of colonel in retaliation for his testimony before the House last year.

Vindman, a former Ukraine expert to the National Security Council, was ousted from his White House job following his November testimony in which he validated many of the concerns raised by the whistleblower whose report sparked the impeachment inquiry. Continue reading.

Vindman to retire from military after “retaliation” from Trump impeachment

Axios logoLt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served as a key witness in President Trump’s impeachment trial, announced Wednesday that he has moved to retire from the military after 21 years of service amid fears that he will “forever be limited” due to political backlash over his testimony.

The big picture: The president fired Vindman in February as the leading Ukraine expert on the National Security Council for being “insubordinate,” but top military leaders including Secretary of Defense Mark Esper claim Vindman had not been politically targeted.

  • In his testimony, Vindman called Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden “inappropriate” and said he reported his concerns on the matter due to a “sense of duty.”
  • Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) vowed last week to block the promotions of 1,123 senior military officers until Esper confirmed that Vindman’s promotion would go through. Continue reading.

‘Vindman Deserves Better’: GOP Group Hits Donald Trump With New Attack Ad On Fox News

“Our military deserves better. Our country deserves better,” Republicans for the Rule of Law declares in the spot that will air on “Fox & Friends.”

A conservative group is hitting President Donald Trump with another attack ad on one of his favorite TV shows, this time declaring that “our country deserves better.”

Republicans for the Rule of Law blasts Trump’s decision to fire Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key witness in the House’s impeachment investigation into the Ukraine scandal, in its latest spot that will air on Fox News’ flagship morning show “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.

The promo calls out Trump for ousting Vindman, a decorated Iraq War veteran who served on the National Security Council as an expert on Ukrainian affairs, and his twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, who reportedly had no link to the impeachment investigation. Continue reading.

Conway vs. Conway: ‘Pure Gaslighting’ On Vindman Dismissal From NSC

Kellyanne Conway is trying to smooth over President Donald Trump’s firing of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman and his brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, from the National Security Council, by claiming they were not fired at all.

Her husband, prominent conservative attorney George Conway, isn’t having it, appearing to call her remarks “gaslighting.”

The senior counselor to the president told Fox & Friends Monday morning it’s “typical” for someone from the NSC to be reassigned. She did not mention his brother was fired as well, nor did she note they were escorted out of the White House complex like criminals. Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham’s tarring of Alexander Vindman

Washington Post logoGraham warned about Russia feeding propaganda through Ukraine. Then he engaged in his own conspiracy theory about Vindman.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) gave his first Sunday show interview in the post-impeachment era of Donald Trump’s presidency. And it was something.

Over the course of a lengthy conversation with “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, Graham left open the possibility that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was being “played by the Russians.” He was also asked whether Trump knows that information from Ukraine could be Russian propaganda, and he could muster only, “I hope so.” And he indicated he is increasingly skeptical about allegations that originated in Ukraine and said the Judiciary Committee he chairs may not pursue them, after all.

The totality of it suggests that an influential senator has undergone a rather conveniently timed shift when it comes to Trump’s conspiracy theories about Ukraine. Now that the theories don’t need to be vouched for in the name of defending Trump, Graham appears to be distancing himself from them. Continue reading.

‘Not just chilling but frightening’: Inside Vindman’s ouster amid fears of further retaliation by Trump

Washington Post logoHe had been publicly vilified by President Trump, marched out of his national security office across from the White House, so Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman wanted only to get his mind off politics as he settled in to watch a television show with his grade-school-age daughter Friday evening.

Then his wife returned home with some news: Much of the country had just watched as former vice president Joe Biden implored the audience to give a standing ovation in Vindman’s honor at the nationally televised Democratic presidential debate in Manchester, N.H.

“Stand up and clap for Vindman. That’s not who we are! We’re not what Trump is!” Biden thundered in the name of the Army officer whom Trump had hours earlier ousted from the White House National Security Council in retaliation for his testimony in the House Democrats’ impeachment probe. Continue reading.

‘Campaign of intimidation’: Vindman’s lawyer responds to new attacks by Trump

Trump tweeted that Vindman ‘had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information.’

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s attorney vigorously pushed back Saturday on President Donald Trump publicly tying the impeachment witness’ ouster to insubordination and leaking information.

In a statement, attorney David Pressman said Trump’s claims “conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the President is well aware.”

Trump tweeted Saturday morning that Vindman, who was the top Ukraine policy officer on the National Security Council, “had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information.” Continue reading.