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Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council aide and impeachment witness President Donald Trump fired Friday, was just doing his job, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told students and guests at a Drew University event here Wednesday night. Over a 75-minute speech and Q&A session, Kelly laid out, in the clearest terms yet, his misgivings about Trump’s words and actions regarding North Korea, illegal immigration, military discipline, Ukraine, and the news media. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, said that Vindman is blameless and was simply followed the training he’d received as a soldier; migrants...

WASHINGTON — National security adviser Robert O’Brien said Tuesday evening there had been “absolutely” no retaliation involved in Friday’s departure of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council, even as President Trump seemed to indicate that the military would “look into” whether to take disciplinary action against the Army officer. Vindman, who had been the NSC’s director of European affairs, testified in November during the impeachment proceedings against the president, saying he considered Trump’s efforts to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter “inappropriate.” With his twin brother, Yevgeny, also an Army...

“I respect Donald Trump’s actions on escorting [Vindman] out of the White House because he, as a team player, he should have brought it up through the chain of command, and then blown the whistle if it didn’t get approved,” Petry said Sunday.

President Trump on Tuesday suggested that the Pentagon should review the conduct of a former White House national security aide who played a central role in the Democrats’ impeachment case and potentially consider disciplinary action against him. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who until last week was detailed by the Pentagon to the White House, testified before the House impeachment panel that Trump inappropriately pushed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Vindman was ousted from his job on the White House National Security Council on Friday, just two days after the...

Washington - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is calling on internal watchdogs from across the federal government to investigate "any and all instances of retaliation" against federal whistleblowers who have reported alleged misconduct by President Trump. Schumer's request to the nation's 74 inspectors general, who serve as the internal watchdogs of federal agencies, follows the removal of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from his job with the National Security Council. Vindman testified during the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump and participated in the July 25 phone call between the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr...

Lt. Col. Vindman is part of this summer's incoming U.S. Army War College class

he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my “perfect” calls incorrectly, & was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information,' he continued. 'In other words, “OUT”,' Trump concluded. He is spending the weekend at the White House after dramatically firing Vindman and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland on Friday. . . . [Vindmans lawyer:]'While the most powerful man in the world continues his campaign of intimidation, while too many entrusted with political office continue to remain silent, Lieutenant...

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday called for the Democrat primary debate audience in New Hampshire to give a standing ovation for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman hours after he was removed from the National Security Council by the White House. “Col. Vindman got thrown out of the White House today, walked out,” Biden said. President Trump “should have been pinning a medal on Vindman and not on Rush Limbaugh.” “I think we should call stand and give Col. Vindman a show of how much we support him,” the former vice president added. “Stand up and clap for Vindman!”

“I’m stunned by it. I’ll talk to my colleagues about this because I know they have some concern about some of the interventions that the president has with our military. That’s such a shame. What a patriotic person,” the California Democrat added.

Trump Jr. tweeted Friday evening after his father, President Trump, pushed two top impeachment witnesses who testified against him during the House impeachment investigation out of their government roles earlier in the day. "Allow me a moment to thank — and this may be a bit of a surprise — Adam Schiff. Were it not for his crack investigation skills, @realDonaldTrump might have had a tougher time unearthing who all needed to be fired," Trump Jr. said. "Thanks, Adam!"

South Lawn11:16 A.M. ESTTHE PRESIDENT:  So I just got this; it was just handed to me.  This is the D.C. Circuit and we just won the big emoluments case.  I think it was a unanimous decision.  This was brought by Nancy Pelosi and her group.  It just came out a few minutes ago.  So I’ll be reading it on the helicopter.  But it was a total win.  This was brought by 230 Democrats in Congress on emoluments.  It was another phony case and we won it three to nothing.  We won it unanimously.Q    Mr. President, is Mick Mulvaney going...

President Trump and his aides wasted little time opening a campaign of retribution against those he blames for his impeachment, firing on Friday two of the most prominent witnesses in the inquiry against him barely 48 hours after the Senate acquitted the president. Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, Mr. Trump fired Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, within hours of the White House dismissing Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, a decorated Iraq war veteran who was a Ukraine expert on the National Security Council. Both officials testified to a House committee about the...

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated Army officer who served as the Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, was escorted out of the White House on Friday after reports surfaced that President Donald Trump would be punishing people who testified during his impeachment trial.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who made waves as a witness during the Trump impeachment proceedings, was fired Friday by the National Security Council and escorted off of the White House grounds, Fox News has confirmed. Vindman was on detail to the National Security Council from the Department of Defense, and it is expected he will return there. It comes just two days after President Trump was acquitted in the Senate on the impeachment charges brought by the House last year over his dealings with Ukraine. VINDMAN DRAWS APPLAUSE DURING IMPEACHMENT HEARING: 'THIS IS AMERICA' In a lengthy statement, Vindman’s attorney,...

[snip] Vindman currently works in the White House, and his term on the NSC was set to end in July. He had already told senior officers that he planned to leave his posting early, The Washington Post (Trump lambastes his critics.....)

The White House plans to transfer Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, whose testimony in the House impeachment hearings infuriated President Trump and his allies, out of the National Security Council staff as early as Friday, two senior administration officials said. It was not immediately clear where he would next be sent within the Defense Department, one administration official said, but Colonel Vindman is on active duty in the military. The action comes just days after Mr. Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial that turned in part on the testimony of Colonel Vindman and other administration officials who described...

In November Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ron Johnson (R-WI) blasted Lt. Col Vindman in an 11-page letter written to ranking member of the House Intel Committee Devin Nunes and Rep. Jim Jordan. Senator Johnson wrote the Congressman a letter to provide his first-hand information and perspective on events relevant to the impeachment inquiry.Johnson traveled to Ukraine with special envoy Kurt Volker, spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in person and spoke to President Trump about the hold on military aid — unlike all of the ‘witnesses’ Schiff has dragged in to testify using...

The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, preparing to position the move as part of a broader effort to shrink the foreign policy bureaucracy, two people familiar with the matter said. The White House intends to portray any house-cleaning as part of a downsizing of the NSC staff, not retaliation, according to the people. Some of the officials 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...

The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, preparing to position the move as part of a broader effort to shrink the foreign policy bureaucracy, two people familiar with the matter said. The White House intends to portray any house-cleaning as part of a downsizing of the NSC staff, not retaliation, according to the people. Some of the officials 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...

I'm an over-the-road truck driver. That means I have lots of time to indulge myself in activities not given to ordinary mortals, such as listening gavel-to-gavel to the Senate's impeachment process (still in progress as of this writing). Most ordinary mortals do not enjoy (?) this luxury, because they have lives of their own: things like home, family, hobbies, jobs that don't permit radio or TV listening. But me, I'm a captive audience in my truck, so if I feel like listening, then listening is what I do. It makes the miles go by. In the course of my tuning...