Despite a suggestion from President Donald Trump, the Army is not currently investigating Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman for his testimony during the House’s impeachment inquiry.
However, the Defense Department official who confirmed the current lack of a probe to the Daily Beast did not guarantee that there wouldn’t be one in the future.
Vindman was frogmarched from the White House campus last week, after he and his twin brother Yevgeny, a lawyer for the National Security Council who did not testify in the hearings, were unceremoniously fired.
But aside from a formal investigation, as an unnamed former senior Army official told the Daily Beast, there are other more subtle ways Vindman could be punished. For example, he could be denied a promotion to colonel when he’s up for the job. Those decisions are subjective and take into account multiple factors — it would be difficult to pin the snub on his testimony alone.
Trump has sustained his anger at Vindman since his testimony, and also axed former Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland last week.
Many Senate Republicans told TPM that they found Trump’s Friday Night Massacre to be reasonable, saying that it’s his prerogative to surround himself with only “loyal” officials.
