Trump fires impeachment witness
Alexander Vindman, who testified in U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, was escorted out of the White House on Friday, two days after the president’s acquittal in his Senate trial.
“Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” said his lawyer, David Pressman. “His honour, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.”
Vindman worked on the National Security Council, as did his twin brother, Yevgeny, a senior lawyer and ethics official, who also was escorted out on Friday, without explanation, Pressman said.
The White House was preparing to portray the moves as part of a broader downsizing of the NSC staff, not retaliation, according to the people.
NSC spokesman John Ullyot said he couldn’t comment on personnel matters.
Asked Friday whether he wanted Alexander Vindman to leave, Trump said: “Well, I’m not happy with him.”
Vindman was one of the Democrats’ most crucial witnesses in their impeachment proceedings — a decorated Army lieutenant colonel and Iraq war veteran, who raised the alarm over the president’s July 25 telephone call with Ukraine’s leader.
Before the testimony of Vindman, a Ukraine expert and the director of European Affairs on the NSC, the only account of that call came from an anonymous whistleblower whose identity has remained largely hidden to this day, and a partial transcript released by the White House.
Some other officials are being targeted for removal from the NSC would be reassigned because they’re perceived as being disloyal to the president, three people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Senior staff were informed on Thursday that some aides would be leaving the White House, the people added.
The departure of the Vindmans could trigger objections from Democrats and possibly some Republicans, after the Senate acquitted Trump of two articles of impeachment in a near partyline vote on Wednesday.
The brothers’ removal suggests that the White House is feeling emboldened to retaliate against those Trump blames for making him the third U.S. president to be impeached by the House.
Trump demands loyalty from his top aides and has repeatedly dismissed officials who disagreed with him.