Trump fires impeachment witness
IMPEACHMENT
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK • Two days after President Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal, his administration on Friday ousted two officials — Army Lt.Col. Alexander Vindman and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland — who provided damaging testimony about Trump in Democratic-led congressional hearings.
Sondland issued a statement saying he would be removed from his post hours after Vindman’s lawyer announced that the military officer — the White House’s top Ukraine expert — was removed from his National Security Council job.
Vindman, a decorated Iraq war combat veteran, was escorted out of the White House, his lawyer David Pressman said, adding that the move was retribution for Vindman’s testimony. Michael Volkov, who represented Vindman when he testified in the impeachment inquiry, said Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, was escorted off the White House grounds at the same time.
“There is no question in the mind of any American why this man’s job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House. LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” Pressman said.
Sondland, a wealthy Oregon hotelier, was a Trump political donor before being named by the president as ambassador. In his statement, he said he was advised that Trump “intends to recall me effective immediately.”
“I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary (Mike) Pompeo for his consistent support, and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union,” he said.
Vindman and Sondland both testified in the House impeachment inquiry that led to Trump becoming only the third U.S. president to be impeached. The Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him on Wednesday of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice, keeping him in office.
Vindman in November testified that Trump made an improper demand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July 25 phone call that became the focus of the inquiry. Vindman said that “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing” in the phone call.