PakNews: Vindman Escorted From White House After Trump’s Acquittal

(Bloomberg) -- Alexander Vindman, who testified in 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. Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union who also testified, has been fired, the New York Times reported.“Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” said his lawyer, David Pressman. “His honor, 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 people familiar with the matter. 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.”Brother DismissedVindman was one of the Democrats’ most crucial witnesses in their impeachment proceedings -- a decorated Army lieutenant colonel, who raised the alarm over the president’s July 25 telephone call with Ukraine’s leader. Before Vindman’s testimony, the only account of that call came from an anonymous whistle-blower 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 owing to the sensitivity of personnel moves.Senior staff were informed on Thursday that some aides would be leaving the White House, the people added. The moves have been in the works since at least last week and could come as soon as Friday.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 party-line vote on Wednesday. Those concerns could mount if the Trump administration acts against additional government officials.Feeling EmboldenedThe 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 after they disagreed with him or made critical comments behind his back. The latest actions go further by taking aim at lower-level officials in non-partisan positions.Vindman, a Ukraine expert and the director of European Affairs on the NSC, became a target of Trump’s ire because he raised concerns to the top lawyer at the National Security Council over what he viewed as Trump’s inappropriate demand that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic rival, during the call with Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Vindman testified that Trump exerted “inappropriate” pressure on Zelenskiy. Vindman said he felt a responsibility to come forward.Reporting CallVindman said the Trump-Zelenskiy call so alarmed him that he reported it through the administration’s legal channels. “Without hesitation, I knew that I had to report this to the White House counsel,” Vindman testified in November.Jennifer Williams, a State Department employee assigned to Vice President Mike Pence’s staff and who testified on the same day as Vindman, left the White House on Monday after the vice president approved her request to end her rotation early. Her new rotation will be with the United States Central Command, or Centcom.After his appearance, Vindman was assailed on Twitter by Donald Trump Jr., who called him “a low level partisan bureaucrat and nothing more.”Vindman’s rotation at the NSC was supposed to end this summer. His next rotation would likely be at the Department of Defense. In November, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that Vindman wouldn’t face any retaliation from the Pentagon over his testimony. He reiterated that stance on Friday, saying: “We protect all of our service members from retribution or anything like that.”(Updates with New York Times’ report of Sondland’s firing in first paragraph.)\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove, Jordan Fabian and Roxana Tiron.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Larry LiebertFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.