Former President Donald Trump allegedly directed a vicious retaliation campaign against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Soviet-born military officer who spoke at the former president's first impeachment inquiry — an effort that denied him a promotion and resulted in his premature retirement from the military.
But Trump's efforts to similarly push out Vindman's twin brother, also a lieutenant colonel, have been less successful — and according to Politico, the Army is moving forward with promoting him.
"Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman is set to be promoted to full colonel, despite attempts by loyalists to former President Donald Trump to derail his career following his bit role in the president's first impeachment, according to two people familiar with the matter," reported Daniel Lippman.
"Vindman filed a complaint last August with the Pentagon inspector general alleging he was retaliated against by his former White House counsel's office bosses, John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis, for reporting misconduct by Trump," said the report. "Eisenberg and Ellis filed what could have been a career-ending evaluation of Vindman last year, saying he lacked judgment and had lost the trust of senior NSC leadership, according to the complaint Vindman filed. The promotions board met roughly two months after the negative evaluations, according to the two people familiar with the matter."
Ultimately, Army officials concluded that the evaluation from Eisenberg and Ellis was not objective, and disregarded it.
Alexander Vindman was a key witness in the first impeachment trial, giving evidence on Trump's plot to pressure the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation of President Joe Biden's family. Following that testimony, Trump administration officials fired both Vindman brothers from the National Security Council.
