Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn doubled down on an accusation she made Thursday against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, alleging he is the handler of a whistleblower who leaked a July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky — even as his lawyer accused her of “slander” and “defamatory tweets.”
The Republican senator launched her latest criticism of Vindman as Rep. Adam Schiff spoke on the Senate impeachment floor Thursday evening.
“Adam Schiff praises Alexander Vindman as an American patriot. How patriotic is it to badmouth and ridicule our great nation in front of Russia, America’s greatest enemy?” she wrote on Twitter. published in response.
“Alexander Vindman broke the chain of command and leaked the President’s July 25 phone call to his buddy, the ‘whistleblower.’ Because of a political dispute with the President!” she continued“How is that not vindictive?”
She then assured three similarities between Vindman and the “whistleblower”: both worked under President Obama, both had an interest in taking down President Trump, and both held the same position on the National Security Council.
Blackburn also quoted Vindman’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jim Hickman, who said, “Don’t let the uniform fool you. He’s a political activist in uniform.”
At one point during impeachment testimony last year, Vindman was caught in an apparent contradiction slow in the evening by a Republican representative from the state of Ohio. Brad Wenstrup. Vindman testified that he did not discuss his concerns about Trump’s July phone call with his boss, Tim Morrison, of the National Security Council because he was unavailable. But according to questioning from Wenstrup, Morrison confirmed that Vindman gave him an edited transcript of the call the same day he testified that Morrison could not be contacted.
Morrison further testified that he had heard others express concerns that Vindman was a leaker and could not be trusted with key information. When asked about that accusation, Vindman read a glowing performance review that described him as an exemplary officer. (Fox News)
Vindman’s attorney responded by defending his client’s patriotism and accusing her of “cowardice.”
“That a member of the Senate — at a time when the Senate is taking on its most serious responsibility — would take to Twitter to spread smears about a member of the military is cowardly,” David Pressman, an attorney with Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, said in a statement. “While Senator Blackburn sends defamatory tweets, Lt. Col. Vindman will continue to do what he has always done: serve our country with obedience and honor.”
Blackburn, however, refused to back down and later told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that many members of the military had criticized Vindman for breaking with the chain of command and attempting to interfere with President Trump’s foreign policy decisions.
“We respect the service of every man and woman in uniform,” Blackburn told presenter Laura Ingraham. “Look at what his commanders have said. He has a problem with his judgment. That has been pointed out. He had one commander who said he was a political activist in uniform. He had problems stepping outside his chain of command, which is what he did here.
“I talk to a lot of members of the military on a regular basis,” Blackburn continued. “They have a real problem with some of the things and the way he’s been handling this. We want to make sure we get to the bottom of it; we want to make sure the president is treated fairly. We want to make sure we get through this and get back to the people, the things they want us to do, like put more judges on the federal bench.”
The American people deserve the truth about “whistleblower” Vindman and how his impeachment came about. photo:twitter.com/halfuwJYbV
— Senator Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 24, 2020
