Two days after his acquittal
Trump ousts two star impeachment witnesses
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has ousted the two witnesses who provided the most damaging testimony during his impeachment investigation: Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland.
Two days after Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate on charges of trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Vindman — the top Ukraine expert at the White House’s National Security Council — was escorted out of the building, according to his lawyer.
“Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” said his lawyer, David Pressman.
Hours later, Sondland said he had been fired from his post as U.S ambassador to the European Union.
The two men served as star witnesses during the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives’ impeachment investigation last year.
Vindman’s twin brother Yevgeny, who worked as a lawyer at the NSC, also was escorted out of the White House, according to Michael Volkov, who represented Vindman when he testified in the impeachment inquiry.
Trump has said he is still upset with Democrats and government officials involved in the impeachment investigation, even after he was acquitted on Wednesday.
“I’m not happy with him. You think I’m supposed to be happy with him?” he said of Vindman on Friday. – Reuters