FIRED WHITE HOUSE LAWYER SLAMS RETALIATION BY TRUMP

A former White House lawyer contends he was fired for reporting concerns about President Donald Trump’s efforts to have Ukraine investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and about alleged legal and ethical breaches by Trump’s national security adviser, Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday (Thursday, August 27, 2020 in Manila).

Army Lt. Col. Colonel Yevgeny Vindman filed an Aug. 18 complaint making the allegations with the Pentagon watchdog, the chairs of three US House of Representatives committees said in a letter to acting Pentagon Inspector General Sean O’Donnell.

The lawmakers said Vindman also alleged National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and National Security Council (NSC) Chief of Staff Alex Gray misused government resources, excluded women from meetings, and made sexist and demeaning remarks to female NSC staffers. They urged O’Donnell to investigate whether Trump fired Vindman as deputy National Security Council legal adviser in retaliation for filing confidential reports with his superiors containing his allegations.

O’Donnell also should investigate whether Trump and his aides fired Vindman’s twin brother, Alexander Vindman, in retaliation for testifying in House proceedings that led to Trump’s impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress last year, the lawmakers said. Alexander Vindman, then the top NSC expert on Ukraine and an Army lieutenant colonel, served at the White House at the same time as his twin, an Army lawyer. Trump fired both in February and Alexander Vindman retired from the Army.