Trump Calls Ousted National Security Official ‘Insubordinate’ - The Wall Street Journal

Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified in November during the House impeachment probe, about President... — Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified in November during the House impeachment probe, about President Trump’s July phone call with the president of Ukraine.
Photo: Caroline Brehman/Zuma Press

Andrew Restuccia

Updated Feb. 8, 2020 1:37 pm ET

WASHINGTON—President Trump tweeted criticism of the Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a former National Security Council official who voiced concerns about Mr. Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s leader, calling him insubordinate.

“Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about ‘Lt. Col.’ Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was. Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!) but, he was very insubordinate,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning.

Col. Vindman, who served as the NSC’s Ukraine expert, on Friday was removed from his White House post and escorted off the grounds. An Army officer detailed to the NSC, he had earlier given testimony critical of Mr. Trump in the House impeachment probe. A second witness in the impeachment proceedings, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, said on Friday he also was removed from his post. Mr. Sondland said he was removed on the president’s order.

Mr. Trump accused Col. Vindman of “incorrectly” reporting the details of the president’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said Col. Vindman’s supervisor gave him a “horrendous report,” asserting that his supervisor “publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information.”

The president didn’t offer evidence to support his allegations. Tim Morrison, who oversaw NSC policy on Europe and Russia beginning shortly before the July call, and who has since stepped down, told House impeachment investigators that others in the NSC raised concerns about Col. Vindman’s judgment and worried he was leaking. Mr. Morrison also said that he wished Col. Vindman had come to him first with his concerns about the July call, instead of NSC lawyers.

Col. Vindman’s lawyer, David Pressman, said Mr. Trump’s assertions are false.

“The President this morning made a series of obviously false statements concerning Lieutenant Colonel Vindman,” Mr. Pressman said in a statement. “They conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the President is well aware.”

“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 Colonel Vindman continues his service to our country as a decorated, active duty member of our military,” Mr. Pressman said.

On Friday, Mr. Pressman accused the president of exacting “revenge” on Col. Vindman for testifying in the impeachment probe. Mr. Pressman said Col. Vindman “did what any member of our military is charged with doing every day: he followed orders, he obeyed his oath, and he served his country, even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril.”

Born in Ukraine, Col. Vindman moved to the U.S. as a young child. He served multiple tours as an Army infantry officer in South Korea, Germany and Iraq. He was wounded in an IED attack in Iraq and was subsequently awarded a Purple Heart.

Following his testimony, Col. Vindman came under repeated criticism from Mr. Trump’s allies, some of whom suggested without evidence that his loyalties were divided because he was born in Ukraine. Democrats have excoriated the president and his allies for their campaign against Col. Vindman, accusing them of character assassination.

Col. Vindman, who listened in on Mr. Trump’s July call with Mr. Zelensky, told impeachment investigators last year that Mr. Trump’s request for an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was “inappropriate and improper.” He also said “there was no doubt” that Mr. Trump was asking on the call for an investigation from Kyiv as a condition for Mr. Zelensky to get a proposed White House meeting.

Col. Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, a senior lawyer and ethics official on the NSC, also was removed from his post and escorted out of the White House on Friday.

Write to Andrew Restuccia at Andrew.Restuccia@wsj.com