Donald Trump has ousted two government officials who testified against him during his impeachment hearings.
The US envoy to the EU Gordon Sondland, told how he was advised “that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as
United States ambassador to the European Union.”
Hours earlier, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, an expert on
Ukraine who played a central role in the Democrats’ impeachment case, was escorted out of the
White House complex.
His lawyer said this was in retaliation for “telling the truth”.
“The truth has cost Lt Col Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy,” David Pressman said in a statement.
Vindman’s twin brother, Lt Col Yevgeny Vindman, was also asked to leave his job as a White House lawyer on Friday, the army said in a statement.
Both men were reassigned to other positions in the army.
In its historic vote, the senate decided not to remove America’s 45th president from office on charges arising from his dealings with Ukraine.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump was glad the impeachment trial was over and “maybe people should pay for that”.
House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that Vindman’s ouster was “a clear and brazen act of retaliation that showcases the President’s fear of the truth.
“The President’s vindictiveness is precisely what led
Republican Senators to be accomplices to his cover-up.” she said.
Californian Democrat Jackie Speier called it “the Friday Night Massacre”, likening the situation to President Richard Nixon’s so-called Saturday night massacre, when top justice department officials resigned after refusing to do his bidding by firing a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. The prosecutor himself was fired anyway.
Speier added in her tweet, “I’m sure Trump is fuming that he can’t
fire Pelosi.”
#FridayNightMassacre began trending with people accusing Trump of retaliating against the truth.
I woke up to this #FridayNightMassacreIt keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse......America, what have you done?😒 https://t.co/U2BHIFBWzf— Niovi Santama (@n_santama) February 8, 2020When Nixon fired those who refused to cover up his crimes, it was called the “Saturday night massacre” and led to his removal. Now, Trump is having his own #FridayNightMassacre of those who refused to cover up his crimes, and it’s obscene Trump may never face consequences. https://t.co/wu0CiXNWjp— Albert Fox Cahn🔯 (@FoxCahn) February 8, 2020This is how #Trump repays cowardly #GOP Senators who let him walk on #AbuseOfPower. Not 48 hours after, Trump abuses power again & fires all the witnesses who testifiedIs this still America? Still a democracy?#Purging like a dictator!#FridayNightMassacre#NovemberIsComingpic.twitter.com/h68ibBqXsr— James C. (@Steampunkflyer) February 8, 2020UTTERLY LIVID that our #nationalheroes lose their jobs for defending the #USConstitution they swore an other to defend #FridayNightMassacrehttps://t.co/hpt5qJ05Xd via @msnbc— Fabienne Marsh (@FabienneMarsh) February 8, 2020
Since his acquittal, Trump has held nothing back in lashing out at his critics, including Senator Mitt Romney of
Utah, the only Republican to vote against him.
On Friday, he also took after Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West
Virginia whom Trump had hoped would vote with the
Republicans for his acquittal but who ended up voting to convict.
Trump tweeted that he was “very surprised & disappointed” with Manchin’s votes, claiming no president had done more for his state. He added that Manchin was “just a puppet” for the
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.
Alexander Vindman’s lawyer issued a statement that accused Mr Trump of taking revenge on his client.
“He did what any member of our military is charged with doing every day: he followed orders, he obeyed his oath and he served his country, even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril,” Mr Pressman said.
“And for that, the most powerful man in the world - buoyed by the silent, the pliable and the complicit - has decided to exact revenge.”Related... The Most Unhinged Moments From Trump's 'Celebration' Of His Impeachment Acquittal How A Broken System Acquitted Donald Trump
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