The Army has taken steps to ensure the safety of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Army officer and National Security Council staffer who testified in connection with the impeachment hearings against President Trump, the secretary of the Army told reporters Thursday.
The Army conducted what they called a “vulnerability assessment” at the residence of Lt. Col. Vindman, a Ukraine specialist at the National Security Council who listened in on the controversial phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky July 25 that figures prominently in the House’s ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Lt. Col. Vindman “is very comfortable and very appreciative,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute. “We will do whatever we have to do to protect our soldiers and their families.”
Lt. Col. Vindman has reported being the target of online insults and threats since answering the subpoena to testify before Congress both privately and then publicly earlier this week.
“We’re doing everything we can to support him and try not to draw any more attention to him than he already has,” Mr. McCarthy said. “We just want him to get through this process and continue to do the work he’s done very well for the last 20 years.”
President Trump dismissed his testimony as coming from a “Never Trumper,” sparking Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York to call for Lt. Col. Vindman to be accorded “whistleblower” status.
“He is a patriot for being willing to do what we hope and expect every service member will do: to tell the truth when asked,” Mr. Schumer wrote in a letter to Army commanders.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.