Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman retires from Army after promotion was held up

Trump was impeached by the House in December in connection with his request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a Democratic presidential contender, and his son Hunter. Trump’s request, made during a July 25 phone call, came as he was withholding military aid to Ukraine that had been appropriated by Congress.

In his testimony during impeachment hearings, Vindman said he was “concerned” about the nature of the call.

Vindman, who was the National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, said he felt it was “improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and political opponent.”

Trump was acquitted by the GOP-led Senate in February. That same month, Vindman was escorted out of his third-floor office across from the White House and reassigned to the Department of the Army. Vindman’s twin brother was also escorted from his post at the White House. 

Hours before Alexander Vindman was escorted from his office, Trump had said of the Purple Heart recipient: “I’m not happy with him.”

“Do you think I’m supposed to be happy with him?” Trump asked reporters. “I’m not.”

The president then suggested that the Pentagon should consider disciplinary action against Vindman.

“He is over with the military,” Trump said after Vindman’s removal from the White House. “We sent him on his way to a much different location and the military can handle him any way they want.”

When pressed if the Defense Department would seek to punish Vindman, Esper told reporters that the agency would “welcome back all of our service members, wherever they serve, to the assignment they’re given.”

“We protect all of our persons, service members from retribution or anything, anything like that,” Esper said, adding that he had just issued a memo to all Department of Defense employees and military personnel to “uphold DoD’s longstanding tradition of remaining apolitical.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/trump-impeachment-witness-vindman-retires-from-army.html