The Trump administration is looking to dismiss Alexander Vindman, who testified against Trump, from the National Security Council.
Vindman is expected to leave at the end of the month but the administration is considering dismissing him early as part of a plan to downsize the national security bureaucracy. The decision to downsize was made prior to the Ukraine controversy.
According to Fox News:
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is leaving his post at the National Security Council, Fox News confirmed Friday.
The timeline of Vindman’s departure is unclear. Vindman was apparently planning to leave his post at the end of the month, but his exit could come sooner.
The news comes after reports that the White House was weighing options to dismiss Vindman from the NSC in an effort to shrink its foreign policy bureaucracy. Bloomberg reported Thursday that the White House planned to frame Vindman’s exit as part of an NSC staff downsizing, not retaliation.
Vindman, though, was an important witness for Democrats during the House impeachment inquiry. Vindman raised concerns over President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he pressed Kiev to launch an investigation concerning presidential candidate Joe Biden’s family.
Vindman has had his character questioned while the left and the media painted him as a patriot and a hero. It seems like history will be the best judge of his true role in the scandal.