Rim Country Gazette: Trump "streamlines" National Security Council by removing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Trump "streamlines" National Security Council by removing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

National Security Council Director for European Affairs Alexander Vindman arrives for a closed-door deposition at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on October 29, 2019. - A White House official plans to tell Congress Tuesday that he witnessed efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate President Donald Trump's rival Joe Biden, and that he reported it as a national security risk. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman will be the first White House official to testify to the House impeachment inquiry that Trump and allied diplomats improperly pressured the Ukraine government to open investigations designed to help Trump politically. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified on October 29 concerning his reaction to Donald Trump’s phone call to Ukrainian President Zelensky, was removed from the National Security Council on Sunday. In an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation, national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who replaced John Bolton in that position in September, said that Vindman would be leaving his position along with several others as part of a “streamlining” of the National Security Council.

O’Brien noted that Vindman, who is an active officer in the Army, serves on the NSC through the Department of Defense. “Everyone who’s detailed at the NSC ... people are going to start going back to their own departments and we’ll bring in new folks,” said O’Brien. New folks who, presumably, Trump believes he can control and prevent from reporting issues or supplying testimony in a matter with deep national security implications.

O’Brien was asked if Vindman was being removed because he was “scheduled to rotate out” or whether there was “any retaliation against him.” In reply, O’Brien said, “I never retaliate against anyone myself.” Asked again whether Vindman had been scheduled to leave, O’Brien replied “there will be a time for everyone who is detailed there.” The evasion in both of those answers is clear.

In previous statements, Trump has referred to Vindman as a “Never Trumper,” part of a group he described as “human scum.” Now Trump’s Veteran’s Day gift for Vindman is removing him from his position for doing his job.