- Senator Tammy Duckworth threatens to block 1,123 high-ranking military promotions until the defense secretary agrees in writing not to block Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s promotion.
- Vindman, an Iraq war veteran who served on the White House National Security Council, testified in impeachment hearings that President Trump’s actions in a call with the Ukrainian president were “improper.”
- Following his testimony, Trump fired Vindman, and there are now reports that the President may reject Vindman’s expected promotion to colonel.
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An American senator and Army veteran threatens to block more than 1,000 high-ranking military promotions to protect an important impeachment witness from President Donald Trump.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, announced Thursday that she intended to block 1,123 promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper agrees in writing that he did not and will not block “the expected and deserved promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.”
“Our army is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy,” Duckworth, a combat veteran who lost her legs due to injuries she sustained during the Iraq War, said in a statement. “It is simply unprecedented and it is wrong for any Commander-in-Chief to meddle in routine military affairs … I will not sit back and let it happen.”
He added: “This goes far beyond any military officer, it is about protecting a merit-based system from political corruption and illegal retaliation.”
Esper previously said the Defense Department protects members of its service from retaliation, but questions remain about Vindman’s future in the military.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the NSC’s leading expert on Ukraine, has become a central figure in the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Several U.S. military officials and lawmakers have expressed concern in recent weeks that the promotion to Colonel for Vindman could be in jeopardy due to the President’s contempt for him.
A senior White House official told The Washington Post that they could not imagine that Trump would support Vindman’s promotion given his role in the President’s impeachment.
Vindman, a veteran of the Iraq war who was wounded in combat and served on the White House National Security Council as an expert in Ukraine, testified at impeachment hearings earlier this year.
Vindman, who was on Trump’s July 2019 phone call with the Ukrainian president, told House of Representatives lawmakers that it was “wrong for the President of the United States to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen and a political opponent. “
Trump was indicted by the House but acquitted by the Senate, and then the President quickly fired Vindman before moving on to target other top U.S. government officials deemed unfair. Trump also withdrew his twin brother, Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, from the National Security Council even though he did not testify against the president.
Duckworth, a Purple Heart recipient like Vindman and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was one of several Democrats in Congress who spoke out against Vindman’s firing.
“Vindman is a patriot and recipient of the Purple Heart who was willing to testify, under oath, and fight for both our nation and our Constitution,” he said in a statement at the time. “Donald Trump is a coward who has never served anything other than his own interests.”
He added: “Now we are living with the consequences, as emboldened Trump feels free to punish anyone who faces his illegal actions by doing the most American thing anyone can do: speak up for what is right.”
