President Trump renewed his attacks Wednesday on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman even as most of his right-wing allies distanced themselves from the smear campaign. Trump denounced Vindman as a “Yesterday’s Never Trumper witness,” even though the Brooklyn-bred Purple Heart winner insisted he spoke out to the impeachment inquiry out of patriotic duty. Advertisement Trump claimed there was “NO Quid Pro Quo in the Transcript,” although critics say the transcript of his July 25 call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky does indicated there was an improper trade off. Vindman told the Democratic-led impeachment committees that he was shocked to hear Trump was holding up U.S. defense aid to use as leverage in an effort to get Ukraine to announce bogus investigations into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, along with a Trump-friendly conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. He also says the “rough transcript” of the call, which he listened in on, left out some key details including several mentions of the Bidens and Burisma, the gas company that Hunter Biden worked for. Trump’s tweet amounts to an effort to revive a smear campaign against Vindman that started Monday night even before his explosive testimony. Right-wing critics including Rudy Giuliani, ex-Rep. Sean Duffy and Fox News host Laura Ingraham suggested that Vindman is not 100% loyal to America because he was born in Ukraine and sometimes discussed issues with his Ukrainian counterparts in their native language. Top Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) pushed back against the smear and urged Trump supporters to avoid trashing Vindman, advice that the president apparently spurned.
Trump attacks Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman again as ‘Never Trumper’ even as GOP allies cry foul at sme
President Trump renewed his attacks Wednesday on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman even as most of his right-wing allies distanced themselves from the smear campaign. Trump denounced Vindman as a “Yesterday’s Never Trumper witness,” even though the Brooklyn-bred Purple Heart winner insisted he spoke out to the impeachment inquiry out of patriotic duty. Advertisement Trump claimed there was “NO Quid Pro Quo in the Transcript,” although critics say the transcript of his July 25 call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky does indicated there was an improper trade off. Vindman told the Democratic-led impeachment committees that he was shocked to hear Trump was holding up U.S. defense aid to use as leverage in an effort to get Ukraine to announce bogus investigations into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, along with a Trump-friendly conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. He also says the “rough transcript” of the call, which he listened in on, left out some key details including several mentions of the Bidens and Burisma, the gas company that Hunter Biden worked for. Trump’s tweet amounts to an effort to revive a smear campaign against Vindman that started Monday night even before his explosive testimony. Right-wing critics including Rudy Giuliani, ex-Rep. Sean Duffy and Fox News host Laura Ingraham suggested that Vindman is not 100% loyal to America because he was born in Ukraine and sometimes discussed issues with his Ukrainian counterparts in their native language. Top Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) pushed back against the smear and urged Trump supporters to avoid trashing Vindman, advice that the president apparently spurned.
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