Back In The USSR Timeline Part 19 — Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

The most compelling of all the witnesses in the first impeachment was Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. He and his brothers were born in the Soviet Union and his father emigrated to the United States when he was a toddler to give his family a better life. All of the Vindman sons have dedicated their lives to the US military. When Lt. Col. Vindman testified before Congress, he wore his military uniform which is customary. He spoke about his family’s gratitude for America as refugees and their loyalty to the US. He has had no other career. In his opening statement he said he would be killed in the Soviet Union for what he was about to do. He honored the courage of his colleagues who had testified and were smeared by Trump and the Republicans, “I want to say that the character attacks on these distinguished and honorable public servants are reprehensible.” He reassured his father that he would be OK for telling the truth, because this is America.

When asked why he felt so confident he replied, “Because this is America. Here, right does matter.” People applauded.

“Dad, my sitting here today, in the US Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision forty years ago to leave the Soviet Union… Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”

He wasn’t murdered by the government for telling the truth, but he did lose his job.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is an Iraq War veteran, a Purple Heart recipient. At the time of the infamous “I need you to do me a favor though” call, he was a top Ukraine expert in the National Security Council. He testified for 10 hours even though the White House told him not to. His immediate reaction to Trump’s call with newly elected Ukrainian president, Volodymy rZelensky, was that Trump had just undermined national security in a big way so he reported it immediately.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman noticed that the transcript of the call had ommitted words. So he made some edits but they weren’t included in the final edits. Who took them out and why? What happened to the original transcript?

“Relying on a doctored transcript to undermine the testimony Lt Col Vindman is obstruction of justice. Vindman testified that transcript omitted reference to Burisma even though it was discussed in Trump call with Ukraine. This is like the missing 18 minutes of Watergate tapes.” — Barbara McQuade

House committee chair Devin Nunes talked down to him by addressing him as “Mr. Vindman” so he corrected him, “Lt. Col. Vindman, please.” Nunes also insulted him by asking him if he wanted to plead the fifth as if he had committed a crime.

After his testimony, the official Twitter account of the White House put this tweet out: Tim Morrison, Alexander Vindman’s former boss, testified in his deposition that he had concerns about Vindman’s judgment.

Fox and the right wing media mocked him for wearing his uniform during his testimony and correcting a member of Congress about how he should be addressed. They accused him of being a double agent spy. Laura Ingraham said he was blinded by the spotlight. The Republicans in Congress questioned his loyalty because he was an immigrant. During his 10 hour testimony, all the Republicans cared about was getting the name of the whistleblower.

Lt Col. Alexander Vindman, Fiona Hill, Ambassador Bill Taylor, and Marie Yovanovitch risked their lives and careers to testify against Trump and tell what they knew about him extorting Ukraine. Their accounts of what happened made the case for impeachment.

Not only did Lt Col. Alexander Vindman get fired, but Trump had his twin brother fired too. Trump wanted the military to take disciplinary action against him for giving testimony in the impeachment hearings.

The Army had to place Lt. Col. Vindman and his family under 24 hour security because the president of the United States targeted him on Twitter.

Alexander Vindman has retired from the US Army. He said, “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.”

His patriotism cost him his career and not a single Republican came to his defense.

After retiring he wrote an op-ed that said, “At no point in my career or life have I felt our nation’s values under greater threat and in more peril than at this moment.” He did an interview with Lester Holt and said he was voting for Joe Biden and encouraged everyone else to do the same. He had always been apolitical but decided he had to take a stand for the sake of the country. Even though he was no longer in the military, he felt it was part of his duty, both as a citizen and someone who had taken an oath to defend the country and Constitution, to publicly denounce the rise of fascism in America and vote against it. He hoped that by taking such a stand he would inspire others to do the same.

Retired Lt Col Alexander Vindman says Trump, Mike Pompeo, Tucker Carlson, and Ron Johnson all have blood on their hands over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is suing Trump, his family, and his lawyers and the right wing media under the 1871 Ku Klux Clan Act for trying to intimidate him so he wouldn’t testify.