The White House may dismiss Col. Alexander Vindman from his post at the National Security Council after he served as a witness in the House impeachment hearings, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the Trump administration could sign off on the move as part of a larger effort to downsize the foreign policy bureaucracy. Staff were told on Thursday that several officials would be reassigned to new posts, and some officials believe the administration is trying to lessen the influence of people perceived as disloyal to the president.
Vindman was a key witness for Democrats during the impeachment inquiry due to his firsthand knowledge of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump urged Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.
“I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens…it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained,” Vindman said in his statement to House impeachment investigators. “This would all undermine U.S. national security.”
Vindman is a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, and his twin brother Yevgeniy serves as an NSC lawyer. The two arrived in the U.S. as toddlers when their family fled Soviet Ukraine.
Several congressmen backed Vindman after former representative Sean Duffy and media personalities questioned the colonel’s loyalty to the U.S.
“We’re talking about decorated veterans who have served this nation,” said Representative Liz Cheney (R., Wy.). “It is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this nation, and we should not be involved in that process.”
“It’s despicable,” Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) said regarding accusations against Vindman. “This is not normal. There’s nothing normal about this.”