Key Impeachment Witness Alexander Vindman “Bullied” Into Early Retirement By Trump, Lawyer Says

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified during impeachment that "in America, right matters.” His lawyer says he has now been forced into early retirement because of “bullying” and “retaliation” from Trump.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, National Security Council Director for European Affairs, testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on November 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Vindman was party to the infamous phone call President Trump had with the Ukrainian President that led to his impeachment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, National Security Council Director for European Affairs, testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on November 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Vindman was party to the infamous phone call President Trump had with the Ukrainian President that led to his impeachment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against President Trump during the impeachment inquiry last fall, has retired early from the U.S. Army after what his lawyer calls “a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” from Trump.

Lawyer David Pressman said Vindman, 45, is leaving the Army after more than 21 years of service because it was clear “that his future within the institution he has dutifully served will forever be limited.” Trump fired Vindman from his position on the National Security Council in February two days after being acquitted by the GOP-led Senate in his impeachment trial. Vindman was escorted from White House grounds and has since been working at the Pentagon, awaiting a new assignment and a promotion that was recommended by his bosses, according to multiple sources.

The promotion “was delayed for weeks because the White House asked for an investigation of Vindman,” according to the AP. While Vindman reportedly “expected to go to the National War College this fall,” according to the New Yorker, senior administration officials asked for the Pentagon “to dig for misconduct that would justify blocking Vindman’s promotion.” The AP and the New Yorker both reported that the Pentagon review didn’t yield any evidence of misconduct. But the promotion continued to be delayed, and Vindman announced his retirement from the U.S. Army on July 8.

He wrote that he "requested" retirement from the U.S. Army because the Army has to approve it.

“Through a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation, the President of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President,” Vindman’s lawyer Pressman said in a July 8 statement. “Between honoring his oath or protecting his career. Between protecting his promotion or the promotion of his fellow soldiers.”

Vindman’s name was on a list of recommended promotions sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The White House delayed the process, holding up the entire list of recommended promotions. Esper also reportedly promised that Vindman would be protected from any retaliation. 

Vindman was part of the team who helped prepare President Trump for the infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that eventually led to Trump’s impeachment. 

In his testimony during the impeachment hearings, Vindman said, “I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen.” He said Trump’s request that Zelensky do him a “favor” and investigate the Bidens was “inappropriate.”

Vindman, whose father was from the former Soviet Union, compared the United States to Russia in his testimony—and the different ways in which democratic and authoritarian governments treat their citizens.

“In Russia, my act of expressing my concerns to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions, and offering public testimony involving the president would surely cost me my life,” Vindman said. He added that he felt “privilege” for being a citizen in the U.S., “where I can live free of fear for mine and my family’s safety.”

Vindman has faced several professional repercussions for his 2019 testimony, and so has his family. His twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, “worked as an ethics lawyer at the White House and held the same military rank,” according to the New Yorker. Trump fired the Vindman brothers on the same day and they were “abruptly and unceremoniously escorted from the White House grounds.” Yevgeny recently tweeted on the Fourth of July that America is “the best country in the world.”

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman also addressed his father during the impeachment hearing. “Dad, my sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol, talking to our elected officials, is proof you made the right decision, 40 years ago, to leave the Soviet Union and come here...in search of a better life for our family,” he said. “Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.” Later, Vindman said that in America, “right matters.”

Pressman said Vindman “did what the law compelled him to do; and for that he was bullied by the President and his proxies.”