President Donald Trump has moved against two of the most prominent witnesses at his impeachment hearings in the House with the removal of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine policy officer on the National Security Counsel. There is no question that the President has a right to remove them and Vindman is not being “fired” but rather being transferred to a Defense Department post. Both ignored instructions from the White House not to appear in Congress. Yet, the timing smacks of retaliation against witnesses and the White House has not offered a full explanation of the action. Previously, a Pentagon official pledged that no retaliation against Vindman would be tolerated, but that might not include a transfer. What is particularly concerning is the removal of the twin brother of Vindman who did not testify and merely went with his brother as emotional support at the hearing.
A president is entitled to a staff that he trusts, but the timing was clearly meant to send a message. It was a message that most senators did not want to hear. Senators like Susan Collins could well lose her seat over her vote and this move will only further enrage many in Maine. Most of us expected that these witnesses would be gradually moved to new posts or they would (like a number of other witnesses) voluntarily retire or leave government work. Vindman was expected to leave this post soon, as is common for such positions. It would have been easy to allow such transitions to occur gradually but Trump clearly wanted to counterpunch. It is a tendency that many of us have criticized in the past. Indeed, he effectively counterpunched his way into this impeachment.
Yet, again, I am most disturbed by the removal of Vindman’s twin brother Yevgeny, who serves as a senior lawyer on the NSC. Why? It smacks of familial retribution or Roman-style decimation. Some senators have suggested that they want to look more closely at Vindman’s conduct but there have been no allegations raised about the conduct of Yevgeny Vindman.
I have long criticized President Trump’s tendency to counterpunch when a more restrained approach would better advance his agenda and support his allies. This is one such example. At a minimum, the President should explain the action. It is possible that staff raised objections to the continuation of Vindman in light of the disobeying of the direction of the President on his testimony after the White House raised constitutional objections. However, the removal of his twin brother undermines such a rationale.
Update: President Trump has defended his action on Vindman with a tweet:
“Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my ‘perfect’ calls incorrectly, & was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. In other words, ‘OUT’.”
This is firing subordinates who are not willing to execute the strategy of the organization and purposely work against the strategy of the organization. It happens every day in the work force and is well deserved. Indeed he has not even been fired (which he deserved) but re-assigned. The VIndman’s made it clear they were looking to mutiny against the executive’s goals – show them the plank.
“the organization” that government employees work for is the US. They get paid by the public, not the president or his party.
Vindman clearly found that he was fulfilling his oath of office, to defend the constitution, by giving testimony to the House of Representatives when so ordered.
“Yet, the timing smacks of retaliation against witnesses”
As often, cautious to a fault.
This quick shuffling or termination of high-level subordinates is not uncommon in business for a variety of reasons and is often considered good management. And Trump was/is a businessman. Why should his actions in government be judged any differently than in business?
Because being president is different than running a business.
And Trump was not a good businessman. He’s an intuitive creature often crashing and burning in business because, while his intuition can sometimes be effective, his complete lack of conceptual thinking doesn’t keep him grounded.
He’s been fortunate when he’s crashed that he’s gotten bailed out. By his father in the ’80’s and 90’s. By the Russians. Probably the Saudis as well. Not that a good businessperson couldn’t be a good president, we just don’t have one right now. A truly good businessperson would recognize the differences between the two forums.
And, my god, back when I was coaching basketball I would’ve run some of you Dumpsters until you bled for saying what you’re saying about Vindman.
Elvis – you are assuming we would even play under you. That is a big IF.
Correction:
Elvis – you are assuming we **could** even play under you. That is a big IF.
Ha. Yeah…, I’ve heard it could be a mixed blessing. Lol.
Those were Paul words and I’d intended to put them in quotes.
(While I can’t be sure, my guess is that Paul and his pals watch more basketball than they play.)
Anonymous – when you are under 6′ you watch more than play. However, my friend Paul Silas played and coached a lot of basketball. He and I played bridge together,
Elvis, I think you are stepping far outside of what you actually know. Take a few steps back and take a look at what Trump has done. If you wish to argue point by point we can do so. Being brought up in Queens doesn’t make you an expert on Trump.
Oh really Allan? Tell me what I know.
Elvis, you told us what you know but it is superficial and naive . Your statements are closer to talking points than they are to an objective assessment of the man.
What you might have direct knowledge of is the restaurant situation in Queens that has dramatically improved.causing people to travel there for dinner.
Allan, I respect the inherent genius in your insight and I’d totally go with it…
If it wasn’t so wrong and didn’t suck so much.
Just curious, were you drinking when you posted this?
Also, just to clear up what I know about Trump in a personal way, it basically comes down to my being a jack of all trades, master of none. I’ve been good at learning the skills of the trades I’ve taken up, not so good at the human relationship part of them…
I know you can identify with this one hundred percent.
Any rate, at one point in time, I did high end stone work and subcontracted often for a landscape architect on the CT side of the city. I was the guy that got the non-linear stuff. When someone wanted a wall built through an apple orchard that wound around and through everything I was the one that got that work. The model I used for what I did was based on Andy Goldsworthy and I got a niche market for myself and my helpers.
I didn’t get work for Trump because that’s not the type of stuff Trump wanted. Maybe if I did gold plated stuff or built shrines to him I would’ve gotten that work. Good thing I didn’t though because my landscape architect did a bunch of work for Trump on the Jersey side and got brutally ripped off and caught up in the courts by Trump for a good long while. Between him and other friends that did work for Trump, I learned — granted through one degree of separation — that to know and work for Trump is to hate Trump. He makes bad business decisions all the time. And his successes, just like his political approval ratings, grow in his absence and fall the more time he’s involved with something. That’s why he’s thrived in licensing his brand while conversely failing at the casino business.
It’s not all bad, I’m not speaking in monolithic tones here. Trump is a GENIUS marketer. And, as we’ve seen in his political turn, he’s a master at exasperating “wedge” issues to his favor. No one in the history of recent American politics has so attached to and whipped up an aggrieved sub section of the American population and as long as there are plenty of pissed off white men around he’ll find the appropriate rock to slither under…
I mean, can I get an amen on that in this, the ‘Harumph’ room of aggrieved lawyers??? I waffle on thinking of this place as either the Harumph room…, or the Titanic. I think both may be true concurrently.
But I highly suspect you’re going to go off on the fact that I’m relying on the experience of my ex boss and other friends for up close Trump experience. But you have to give me the fact that I’m really only one degree away, way close enough to learn first hand of the wreckage. Certainly, when one learns your boss is having money flow problems and is late in paying you personally because some idiot he’s working for is reneging on a contract it hits pretty close to home.
So with that, I’ll just recommend any of the recent books already released, or soon to be released, by people who’ve worked for Trump or had virtually unlimited interview access to paint an accurate picture of the man’s strengths and weaknesses. I haven’t read any of these books yet by the way, just was at a talk by Bob Woodward when he put out his book.
Point being, I’m not too, too far away from personal Trump experience and there is much material with public access to get the picture.
But also, we know there is a sizable group of people who read THE ART OF THE DEAL way back when and then popped a rod when watching THE APPRENTICE. Are you in that group, Allan? If so, there is nothing I can do to help you and you’re on your own with that. I can point you to recent interviews with the writer of THE ART OF THE DEAL though. Full disclosure: might be a huge buzzkill for ya, though.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
“it basically comes down to my being a jack of all trades, master of none. “
Elvis, the master of none is clearly evident in your remarks that are superficial at best and erroneous too frequently. However, I appreciate the good points of being competent in a lot of things. Just be careful how you extrapolate such competence in such an overheated environment.
“Just curious, were you drinking when you posted this?”
Probably water while you were swallowing down the talking points of the left because you seem to have no desire to delve deeply into any singular issue. Nothing wrong with that until taken too far.
I believe you to be a good tradesman and your reason for not working for Trump because of the gold plated stuff a good honest reason. Therefore you would not be ripped off because you provide the service you advertised you could and would do. Unfortunately a lot of people say all sorts of things just to get the job and never provide what they promised. They should not be paid in full.
You and I are on opposite ends. Both ends have good positions because both ends can be ripped off. Each has a case so I know people that didn’t provide what they promised and ripped off their customers. All of this stuff is built into the cost.
One thing is certain, there aren’t a lot of people that can do certain work well. If one plans to build again one cannot easily rip off those that do a good job especially when it is intended to be high end. Trump deals in that type of project. That is why there are contracts and that is why courts are the final arbiter.
What it gets down to is that Trump has become political so everyone that doesn’t like his politics suddenly doesn’t like his work and have a tendency to create things that would normally be considered part of the job.
” He makes bad business decisions all the time. … failing at the casino business.”
This is an example of drawing conclusions without facts especially regarding the casino business and the idea of failure when one undertakes the start of a new company. This seems to be an area you know little about so you draw firm conclusions based on talking points rather than real knowledge. We see that all the time from the leftists on this blog. Don’t become a Peter Shill or an Anon, they have lost all credibility. You sound like you took pride in your work. Maybe you should take a bit more pride in drawing your conclusions.
Elvis, your fellow tradesmen were right. Trump is the rich prick who doesn’t pay the subs.
“…Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will “protect your job.” But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.
At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages….”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
Anon, you can make the numbers look huge even when Trump had no management or ownership responsibility. Then again who said Trump lost all those suits or lost any? That is something you aren’t dealing with because basically you are a liar. I’m not sure I would side with Trump on any singular issue but I might not side with some of my own actions when I review them. We are not perfect but Trump is not what you describe.
What you are actually describing is your own self in storybook form and blaming others for your lack of honesty rather than blaming yourself.
Vindman spoke the truth.
“The truth never hurt a just cause.”
Gandhi
“The truth never hurt a just cause.”
The truth put both Hillary and Obama in a bad place.
I appreciate your insights,sir but they may be premature as the NSA( POTUS) has the goods on everyone. Time will tell. Thanks for your objective look at stories.
Vindman was a self-righteous smarmy prick. And a weasel to boot. Hopefully his new assignment will include picking up doggy poo for the military dogs, and painting flagpoles over and over. Work a little of that gut off him.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Here’s potty mouth “Squeeky Girl” again. But she still has avoided answering this:
Squeeky – Assuming that you are not the Charles Manson-crazed woman, Lynette Squeeky Fromme, who was convicted of attempting to kill President Ford, why in the world have you assumed the name of that villain?
And why do you want to be seen to be a “Girl?” You are well over 30 years old. It’s time to grow up.
Squeeky – Vindman seemed to think he ran policy in Ukraine, not POTUS. He would be gone if he was my employee. Morrison testified that he was a bad employee.
Paul, all my employees knew we were on an equal footing. They could quit and I could fire them. With both of us recognizing that dynamic I had very few that quit and very few that I fired.
Gandhi did not like black people. When will you quote him on that?
“Crazy Abe” Lincoln did not like black people.
I’ll quote him on that right now.
________________________
“If all earthly power were given me,” said Lincoln in a speech delivered in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854, “I should not know what to do, as to the existing institution [of slavery]. My first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia, to their own native land.” After acknowledging that this plan’s “sudden execution is impossible,” he asked whether freed blacks should be made “politically and socially our equals?” “My own feelings will not admit of this,” he said, “and [even] if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not … We can not, then, make them equals.”
– “Crazy Abe” Lincoln
Are you ——- kidding me?
No one in their right mind would “speak the truth” about the Clintons.
Vince Foster, Ron Brown, Seth Rich and many others were on the verge of “speaking some truth.”
Why did no one “speak the truth” about Clinton covering-up the Navy shoot-down of Flight 800 within days of Bill Clinton’s re-election bid? The MSM told America all about the recent accidental shoot-down of a Ukrainian airliner by Iran.
No one in their right mind would betray or, otherwise, cross Bill and/or Hillary Clinton.
Take a little time to review the facts of history. The Clintons are but one communist entity of merciless vengeance.
“Obongo The Fake’s” handlers carry the same threat as the Clintons.
___________________________________________________
The Clinton Body Count
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php
What may be asked is why Lt. Col Vindman did not request reassignment a long time ago given he did not agree with the White House.
Just Trump being Trump, Professor. He obliterates the old Republican model of screaming righteous indignation as a deflection tool. He makes you work, doesn’t he? Just when Nancy reacts in frustration and you write 4 columns about it, Trump’s got to strut around like Connor MacGregor.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
“Just Trump being Trump,”
Yes, Elvis, and if were Obama being Obama both Vindman’s would have been canned before he ever opened the Oval Office door. Too bad Trump didn’t have the same opportunity.
I suppose we can add to the righteous indignation deflection the yes! but Obama/Hillary/Holder deflection as well.
Yes, we can!
Elsvis. I’m not sure where the deflection enters the picture . A catchy phrase doesn’t have much meaning without substance or comparison. I provided you with comparison.
Deflection. A tired one.
Not as tired as your catchy phrase, Elvis.
thank you. Thank you very much.
Any time Elvis. You are welcome.
As proof that a President has the right to squash leakers and even whistleblowers, let us look at the previous President!
————-
But many in the how-dare-President-Trump-attack-a-whistleblower camp paid little attention to Obama’s unprecedented attack on whistleblowers, as well as on the reporters who reported on their whistleblowing. Liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald released a documentary in 2013 called “War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State” that examined the fate of four whistleblowers during the Obama administration. Greenwald said: “One of the things that was a common denominator with all the whistleblowers we interviewed is the terrible personal price they paid. … And what is happening over and over again is the Obama administration and previous administrations are literally shooting the messengers — punishing the whistleblowers, trying to pass laws that make it harder for whistleblowers.”
Similarly, in 2011, left-wing magazine The New Yorker wrote: “When President Barack Obama took office, in 2009, he championed the cause of government transparency, and spoke admiringly of whistle-blowers, whom he described as ‘often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government.’ But the Obama Administration has pursued leak prosecutions with a surprising relentlessness. … It has been using the Espionage Act to press criminal charges in five alleged instances of national-security leaks — more such prosecutions than have occurred in all previous Administrations combined.”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/11/21/where_was_the_love_for_whistleblowers_during_the_obama_administration_141782.html
——————–
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Indeed.
What pisses me off the most is the double standard. It’s ALWAYS there.
Trump is attacked for doing nothing more than his predecessors have done, his “crimes” often being far less egregious.
That doesn’t necessarily justify his untoward behavior or impolitic words, but every president could be demonized for exactly the same reasons Trump is.
For the MSM, the entertainment industry, academia, the deep state, all the democrats all the time and some republicans part of the time, it is only Trump who is reviled as a dictator, racist, warmonger, liar, etc.,
It’s as if his immediate predecessor, for example, was as virtuous as a saint.
And Trump has carried on much Obama policy, across the board. His personal tweaks thereof often blow up in his face.
The media has informed all of us with no doubt that Donald Trump was such a womanizer. Not in the WH. I find it odd and very interesting that they don’t point out the womanizing which was far worse and carried on while still in the WH by JFK.
Is that actually true? JFK’s adventures seem pretty well covered. Maybe not with the detail of, say, getting Stormy’s take on Trump liking to get spanked with a rolled up magazine before she banged him just so he’d leave…
But times are different in that respect now.
That’s awesome! Wrong, but awesome. Awesome, because this is you acknowledging Trump’s policy success. Of course you can’t admit it is his policies, but rather you hilariously claim they are Obama’s. That’s an embarrassing admission for you. As far as personal tweaks blowing up on one’s face, this one will leave you with lasting damage.
Spiking the markets with low interest rates>> Obama policy. Withdrawing troops from the middle east in general>> Obama policy. Of course,Obama increased SF work in Syria but didn’t screw the Kurds like Trump did. Could go down the list and point out similarities and differences in different locales. Certainly Iran policy took a huge turn under Trump. Environmental policy???…, Lol. And Obama would’ve never taken advice from ass clowns like Gorka and Bannon.
In regard to Putin, let’s just say the differences are stark.
But hey, keep keeping on with your bad self there, OLLY. You seem like you can keep yourself entertained.
“And Trump has carried on much Obama policy, across the board. ”
Trump did carry out some broad based policies of Obama but did so much more effectively and that is why the dip seen at the end of the Obama administration turned out to suddenly move in the opposite direction and never stopped moving.
Then Trump added a lot of policy that was completely different which helped stop the bleeding. All we have to do is listen to Obama’s own words and the words of his promoters. They have been proven wrong. The nation did not go bankrupt as stated by the Nobel Prize winner. Instead the nation thrived and continues to thrive. No, industry didn’t have to leave the country never to come back as much of it did return. No, 1% GDP growth did not have to become something the American people had to get used to.
I understand your position, Professor, but Americans who have bosses and know what would happen to them if THEY disobeyed an order can’t really understand the uproar over this. Governmental positions are not for life. Vindman and Sondman disobeyed a direct order to not testify and knew the peril they placed their own employment by so doing. I applaud President Trump for the restraint he has shown in not firing them immediately.
You could not be more wrong about this. You know the attacks he has been under since before he was even elected. There has been the FBI and CIA trying to destroy led by an out of control left wing. Vindman was planted by the CIA as part of their agenda. Vindman leaked to a source in the CIA he won’t name. Most of us in his place would have gotten Vindman out of the Whitehouse much sooner.
It is my understanding that 1. It is an honor & privilege to serve the President @ the White House & 2. Follow the lead of the President and not question His decisions. The President is the elected official not the appointee. Don’t know for sure but Vinney’s brother may have been the leaker of the Bolton Manuscript Info. ??? The President is entitled to fire anyone that may be trying to sabotage or undermine his agenda.
Everyone serves at the pleasure of the president. No explanation needed. You are really asking too much. What president of a corporation or owner of a shop would keep someone on his team who undermines him and disparages him. And these are things Vindman did before he testified. This president is not known for restraint though I believe he does exercise it in ways the main stream media does not give him credit for. By the way is WAPO going to publish your article on Nancy Pelosi? I enjoy your perspective always!
“Senators like Susan Collins could well lose her seat over her vote and this move will only further enrage many in Maine.”
Bullsh*t! If Collins loses her seat it won’t be because of this because most of the country, including Maine, could care less about this sill impeachment crap. Collins was in trouble before the impeachment, probably because she is in a “blue” state, and many Democrats view being as Democrat as kin to being a Catholic or Protestant. Or Shia or Sunni.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Being president is tough.
Being president and surrounded by weasels is impossible.
These weasels knowingly went up against their boss (and we know how those things usually end).
Maybe out of honor, maybe out of spite, maybe caught up in the momentum of the impeachment, doesn’t matter. Now they are paying the price that American customs demand.
Frankly, these are too many professional weasels in Trump’s administration.
“All the best people…”
All you have to do is go read the oath that LTC Vindman takes as a Soldier. He openly testified that he was not sure what the President did was wrong, so he chose his own dismisal by placing himself in a position well above his pay grade. He even found himself in a conversation with the leader of another country, he was in no way in a position to have found himself in that situation. He put himself there.
President Trump should have not just removed him leaving him the option of transfer, he should have DISMISSED him! President Trump should have removed EVERY Obama holdover at the onset, however, he trusted that these individuals would behave in an honest and respectful manner. President Trump Gabe them far too much credit as NOTHING honest or respectful has come out of the Obama Administration or the Democratic Party. If I were President Trump I would not stop here. I would move forward with more removals including taking every legal avenue possible against Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler. We cannot allow politicians to use the House as a means to promote personal agenda’s.
Restraint? Restraint is what we have been witnessing for 3 + years from this man and his family. Way past time to clean this crap up and move on!!!
Trup has a right to have staff he trusts. Vindman proved he was some one you could not trust. He had a high opinion of himself and did not like Trump not listening to Vindman on Ukraine. Vindman, according to reports, has had issues before with his commanders and Vindman was highly political. Also, he was telling the Ukrainians to ignore Trump. Sorry Jon but Vindman should have been removed before. He maybe the original leaker. Good Riddens, hope the door did not hit Vindman on the way out. Now he is the Pentagon problem. Suggeest Vindman will have more issues with his commanders in the Pentagon. Vindman’s brother there are rumprs he may have also been leaking, Bolton Book had t go to Vindman’s brother office for review????????????????? Good to see him go to. Sondland was a political appointment and he to was a fool, watching him on TV. Now he can go back to his small Hotel empire in the Pacific Northwest.
Trump should clean house of all of the holdovers and the Deep State and never Trumpers.
Best thing for all three of them: Guaranteed $1,000,000 in book deal AND repeated spots on CNN, first as guests (“Trump admin insider”) then as recurring panelists. AND a standing ovation when guest speakers at progessive dinners (e.g., ACLU). AND all three will have a chance to join the Board(s) of tech companies.
Yep. All three outplayed the President.
“A president is entitled to a staff that he trusts”
End of story.
You can not work with people that hate you who’s got problem with his own boss