Politics

Fears Of More Post-Impeachment Purges Grow As Trump Says Military Should Punish Vindman

Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS

Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump said the military should consider punishing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman for testifying against him in the House, stoking fears that his purge of impeachment witnesses isn’t over yet.

Trump’s call for punishment is not binding, however, and the military is free to do whatever it wishes with Vindman. The Trump administration expelled Vindman and former EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland last week for testifying against him. Vindman’s brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, was also fired. (RELATED: Medal Of Honor Recipient Says Vindman Was ‘Spotlighter’ Whose Own Peers Wanted Him Out)

Vindman testified to the House Intelligence Committee that he was “deeply troubled” by what he alleged was Trump’s attempt to “subvert” US foreign policy. His testimony was among the most damaging to Trump, despite the president’s acquittal on both charges in January.

With Sondland and Vindman gone, eight of the 12 officials who publicly testified during House impeachment proceedings have been fired, reassigned, or left their jobs, according to Fox News. (RELATED: Trump Says Vindman Was Ousted Because He Was ‘Insubordinate’)

The firings have lead other officials who testified during during impeachment proceedings to fear for their own careers, according to the Washington Post.

North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows stoked fears of a continued purge Tuesday on Fox News.

“This is not about getting even, this is about having a team around you that’s willing to support your agenda. Listen, this is the only president who can run on his accomplishments in the first three years and still run against his own administration because part of his administration is trying to defeat the Trump agenda,” he said.

Trump has fired no additional impeachment witnesses as of Tuesday.