Trump accounts for impeachment witnesses after acquittal

The impeachment process has ended, and now the president apparently wants to make it clear. Two key witnesses lost their posts. The Democrats are horrified.
Washington (dpa) - After his acquittal in impeachment, US President Donald Trump has settled with witnesses who testified against him in the course of the impeachment investigation.

A National Security Council expert on Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, and US Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, were released from their duties on Friday (local time). On Saturday, Trump started biting criticism of Vindman.

This had received a "terrible rating" from his superior, Trump wrote on Twitter. Vindman had "problems with judgment, chain of command, and information leakage," Trump said. "In other words," OUT "," wrote Trump. The head of the House of Representatives, the democrat Nancy Pelosi, however, described Vindman as an "American hero" and condemned his expulsion as "shameful". "The shameful dismissal of Lieutenant Colonel Vindman was a clear and brazen act of vengeance that expresses the President's fear of the truth," said Pelosi.

Vindman's lawyer David Pressman said in a statement: "The most powerful man in the world (...) has decided to take revenge." Vindman obeyed and served his country - and had to go because he was telling the truth. Pressman said his client had been "escorted" out of the White House. Vindman was scheduled to leave the National Security Council in July, according to US media reports. He is now returning to the Ministry of Defense. Vindman's twin brother, who also worked for the National Security Council, was also released from his duties in the White House.

Trump was acquitted of the allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of the Congressional investigation by the Senate on Wednesday with the majority of his Republicans. His spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham then stated that Trump would now speak about how "horrific" he was treated - "and that maybe people should pay for it".

What she could have meant by this is now clearer. Vindman, a 44-year-old officer, had voiced criticism of Trump's testimony during a phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyi in November as a witness to the hearings during an impeachment investigation. The phone call had got the Democrats' investigation rolling and led to the formulation of key allegations: that Trump had encouraged his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate his political rival Joe Biden in order to influence the 2020 presidential election in his favor.

Vindman, who had been summoned to pay a fine, said in Congress: "It was inappropriate to ask the President to request an investigation into a political opponent." Vindman had overheard the conversation.

Trump had always rejected the allegations against him and condemned the impeachment procedure as a "witch hunt". Ambassador Sondland had also been a key witness. He had testified that, when dealing with Ukraine, he had worked with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on express orders. Giuliani had asked for a "quid pro quo" - in return - for Selenskyj's meeting with Trump in the White House. In return, Kiev should first publicly announce investigations into Biden's damage.

The statement about Sondland's proximity to Trump was remarkable: Sondland is an entrepreneur who donated a million dollars to the Trump team and was later appointed ambassador. On Friday, he told several US media: "I was informed today that the President will immediately recall me as US Ambassador to the European Union."