Washington – The Democratic leaders of three chambers of commerce are asking the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense to investigate whether the Trump administration took revenge on Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Vindman, a key witness in the indictment of President Trump, and his twin brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Yevgeny Vindman.
The request from the leaders of the House Oversight and Reform, Intelligence and Armed Services Committees comes after Yevgeny Vindman filed a bell ringing at the Pentagon last week, claiming he was punished after worrying about the phone call from Mr.Trump of July 2019 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was at the center of House’s accusation investigation. He also highlighted possible legal and ethical violations by National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and National Staff Council Chief of Staff Alex Gray.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who handles whistleblower cases, confirmed his law firm represents Yevgeny Vindman and that he filed a complaint that “senior White House officials, in order to include the president, retaliated against him for his job as a lawyer and soldier.”
“Actions were wrongly taken against him in retaliation for his protected revelations on matters that ultimately lead to the president’s accusation, such as revelations of abuse by other current senior members of the president’s national security team,” Yevgeny said. Vindman’s legal team in a statement. Zaid also represented the anonymous whistleblower who a complaint with the inspector general of the intelligence community about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, which prompted the indictment.
According to Democratic lawmakers Carolyn Maloney, Adam Smith, Adam Schiff and Stephen Lynch, Yevgeny Vindman reported “multiple allegations” that O’Brien and Gray “committed various violations of ethics and legal compliance, abusing governments, excluding women from meetings, and being sexist and degrading.” remarks for female NSC staff, including misconduct on women’s appearance and ‘talk[ing] down ‘to women. Yevgeny Vindman served as NSC’s Deputy Legal Adviser and Senior Ethics Officer in the NSC staff.
White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah called the allegations “ridiculous and false.”
“Ambassador Robert O’Brien and these other seniors are highly regarded members of the President’s National Security Team with unblemished reputation during their years in the public service,” she said in a statement. “Under Ambassador O’Brien and his team, National Security Council staff have the largest number of female senior leaders ever. These accusations are an example of exactly what is wrong with Washington – a disgruntled former junior-level detailer, with whom.” Ambassador O ‘Brien had almost no interaction, can launch baseless attacks for partisan purposes. “
Farah said House Democrats and press reports reporting on Yevgeny Vindman’s accusations had the “ultimate goal of harming the president.”
“Mr. Yevgeny Vindman is no longer with the NSC after his detail was terminated after poor performance, as revealed in the House Democrats’ letter,” she said. “He is now seeking revenge against his former supervisors for providing an accurate assessment of his performance, and, as the House Democrats admit, he has not even temporarily addressed his perceived concerns.”
In her letter to Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell, Democrats said that Yevgeny Vindman wrote in his complaint that between July 25 and August 5, 2019, he had at least three conversations with White House attorney John Eisenberg, in which he raised concerns about the call from the President with Zelensky. During the phone call, Mr. Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.
Democrats also told O’Donnell that Yevgeny Vindman raised concerns about O’Brien in the fall of 2019, including the accused National Security Adviser’s use of official government resources for personal activities. They said Yevgeny Vindman told his superiors that O’Brien’s tax-paid trips to Utah and California with his wife would create an “appearance of indecency and personal conflict of interest.” The trip included a speaking engagement for the Brigham Young University Air Force’s ROTC Unit where O’Brien’s daughter was a member of the Corps of Cadets.
The commission’s chairman said Yevgeny Vindman also stated in his complaint that during an ethical briefing he delivered to O’Brien in September 2019, O’Brien “became agitated and angry” when Yevgeny Vindman and his colleagues National Security Adviser informed about conflicts of interest and gifts from private entities, including who could buy his food.
Yevgeny Vindman met in January with Eisenberg and another NSC lawyer, Michael Ellis, to “discuss a series of potential legal and ethical violations about O’Brien and Gray,” the Democrats’ letter said. that O’Brien and Gray “abused official time of NSC staff for personal shopping, such as packing capsules, retrieving personal luggage, and coordinating personalized dinner arrangements.”
In addition, Yevgeny Vindman told Eisenberg and Ellis in January that he believed O’Brien circumvented the government’s ethical standards on at least two occasions: first by offering to connect SpaceX’s Chief Executive Officer with the Pentagon during a December meeting. , and then by accepting a meeting in January. with a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors “under the pretense of a social appeal,” although it was described by the governor as “5G and the USPS / Autonomous Cars, / etc.,” Democrats wrote.
The Democrats said the Trump administration “has a series of personnel actions against LTC Y. Vindman in retaliation for joining his brother in raising concerns about his value chain” over Mr Trump’s call to Zelensky and possible misconduct O’Brien and Gray.
These actions include reducing LTC Y. Vindman’s portfolio of responsibilities, excluding him from important NSC meetings and official events, removing him from his NSC position and guiding him and his brother from the White House grounds, and submitting a degrading performance management, “she wrote to O’Donnell.
The Democratic leaders cite differences between a few officer evaluation reports issued by Eisenberg before and after the ensuing event. In the first report, dated July 1, 2019, Yevgeny Vindman is described as “the epitome of an army officer and lawyer,” and “a hard-working, disciplined, tough-minded team player who manifests army values. He is unremittingly honest in providing legal advice, without worrying about consequences. ”In the July 2019 report, Eisenberg said Yevgeny Vindman“ immediately ”should be promoted to full colonel.
In Eisenberg’s second report of April 6, he said that Yevgeny Vindman “performed his duties satisfactorily” and over time “showed ever worse judgment and could not learn from his mistakes. On several occasions he made unprofessional behavior and NSC staff behave uncomfortably. “
“Vindman’s substandard performance – his lack of judgment, poor communication with his superiors and inability to distinguish between legal and policy decisions – caused him to lose the confidence of NSC’s senior management,” the Democrat quoted the evaluation as saying. . “With additional advice and experience, LTC [Y.] Vindman’s performance could improve. He would benefit from additional experience in a slower work environment subject to less pressure and control. In time, he can become a better lawyer. “
The Democrats said that the “drastic change between these evaluations of performance during the specific time frame in which LTC Y. Vindman ensured ethics and legal compliance in its value chain and with NSC leadership, combined with other personnel actions against LTC Y. Vindman, evidence delivering the pattern of retaliation against him. “
The request to the Pentagon’s Inspector General is the second that the Democrats have made regarding the Vindman brothers. In July, Maloney, Schiff and Lynch asked for an inquiry into whether the Trump administration was trying to take revenge against Alexander Vindman after his testimony before the House.
Both Yevgeny Vindman and Alexander Vindman were escorted out of the White House in February after the Senate acquitted Mr Trump on two charges of abuse of power and incitement by Congress. The president was indicted by the House in December.
Alexander Vindman returned from the U.S. military earlier this month after what his lawyer called a “campaign of harassment, intimidation and retaliation” led by Mr. Trump.
Kristin Brown contributed reporting.
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