Trump says military may consider disciplinary action against Vindman
The comments came days after the star impeachment witness was ousted from the White House.
Trump says military will likely look at disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
By MYAH WARD
02/11/2020 05:40 PM EST
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the military will likely look at disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, just days after the National Security Council official was ousted from the White House after giving damaging testimony during the House impeachment hearings.
“That’s going to be up to the military, we’ll have to see, but if you look at what happened, they’re going to certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that,” Trump said in response to a follow-up question about what he meant when he said, “the military can handle him.
Trump also said he wasn’t “happy” with Vindman and his twin brother Yevgeny, who served as a senior NSC lawyer and was also recalled on Friday despite not being a witness in the president’s impeachment hearings. Trump, without providing evidence or specific examples, said Alexander Vindman reported “very inaccurate things” about the “perfect” call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It turned out that what he reported was very different,” Trump said. “And also when you look at the person he reports to, said horrible things, avoided the chain of command, leaked, did a lot of bad things. And so we sent him on his way to a much different location, and the military can handle him anyway they want.”
One of Vindman's lawyers, David Pressman, said last Friday that his ouster from the NSC was clear political retribution for his role in the impeachment inquiry. "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," Pressman said in a statement shared with reporters.
"The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy," Pressman said.
While Trump on Tuesday expressed his anger at the Vindmans, other officials have portrayed their removal from the White House.
An Army spokesperson on Friday said that the Vindman brothers had simply been reassigned to the Department of the Army. On Monday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted that the Vindman brothers "just got relocated," while also hinting that additional officials could be forced out of their roles.
And in an interview with Cheddar on Tuesday, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Vindman was scheduled to come back to the Army in May after completing his detail assignment to the NSC. He said Vindman will be sent to Senior Service College, where he will "learn how to take on greater responsibility and strategic leadership."
"So, he's coming back a couple months early, and he's going to be at the headquarters Department of the Army, and then we'll send him off to War College this summer," McCarthy said when asked about his reaction to Vindman being escorted out of the White House on Friday. "All these detailees come back and forth pretty regularly, so it's just a few months early, and we'll get him back into the force."
Last Friday, Trump also ordered the recall of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, “effective immediately."
politico.com
The comments came days after the star impeachment witness was ousted from the White House.
Trump says military will likely look at disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
By MYAH WARD
02/11/2020 05:40 PM EST
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the military will likely look at disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, just days after the National Security Council official was ousted from the White House after giving damaging testimony during the House impeachment hearings.
“That’s going to be up to the military, we’ll have to see, but if you look at what happened, they’re going to certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that,” Trump said in response to a follow-up question about what he meant when he said, “the military can handle him.
Trump also said he wasn’t “happy” with Vindman and his twin brother Yevgeny, who served as a senior NSC lawyer and was also recalled on Friday despite not being a witness in the president’s impeachment hearings. Trump, without providing evidence or specific examples, said Alexander Vindman reported “very inaccurate things” about the “perfect” call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It turned out that what he reported was very different,” Trump said. “And also when you look at the person he reports to, said horrible things, avoided the chain of command, leaked, did a lot of bad things. And so we sent him on his way to a much different location, and the military can handle him anyway they want.”
One of Vindman's lawyers, David Pressman, said last Friday that his ouster from the NSC was clear political retribution for his role in the impeachment inquiry. "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," Pressman said in a statement shared with reporters.
"The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy," Pressman said.
While Trump on Tuesday expressed his anger at the Vindmans, other officials have portrayed their removal from the White House.
An Army spokesperson on Friday said that the Vindman brothers had simply been reassigned to the Department of the Army. On Monday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted that the Vindman brothers "just got relocated," while also hinting that additional officials could be forced out of their roles.
And in an interview with Cheddar on Tuesday, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Vindman was scheduled to come back to the Army in May after completing his detail assignment to the NSC. He said Vindman will be sent to Senior Service College, where he will "learn how to take on greater responsibility and strategic leadership."
"So, he's coming back a couple months early, and he's going to be at the headquarters Department of the Army, and then we'll send him off to War College this summer," McCarthy said when asked about his reaction to Vindman being escorted out of the White House on Friday. "All these detailees come back and forth pretty regularly, so it's just a few months early, and we'll get him back into the force."
Last Friday, Trump also ordered the recall of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, “effective immediately."
politico.com
