A number of famed military heroes blasted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Tuesday, calling him “prissy,” a “disgrace,” and “an operative with an agenda.”
Vindman on Tuesday earned their scorn for testifying against his commander-in-chief in uniform before the House intelligence Committee as part of the Democrats’ unraveling impeachment inquisition.
Early in the hearing, Vindman tersely corrected Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the top Republican on the Intel Committee, when the congressman referred to him as “Mr. Vindman.”
The awkward moment came amid a back-and-forth over the identity of one of an unnamed official Vindman briefed about President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Vindman’s lawyer and House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) objected to the questioning because they said it would lead to the disclosure of the so-called “whistleblower’s” identity.
“Mr. Vindman, you testified in your deposition that you did not know the whistleblower,” Nunes stated.
“Ranking member, it’s Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, please,” the witness scolded.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1196828017277976586?s=20
Nunes continued to question Vindman about who he had spoken with following Trump’s phone call, addressing Vindman by his rank, and Schiff repeatedly interjected to prevent Vindman exposing the identity of the whistleblower.
Vindman said that he spoke with two individuals outside the NSC regarding the call, and that both were government employees with “a need to know.”
When asked which agencies they were with, Vindman said he spoke to State Department official George Kent, and “an individual in the intelligence community.”
Left outside the loop was Vindman’s immediate supervisor Timothy Morrison, a Europe and Russia expert for the National Security Council, who testified later in the day. When later asked by Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) why he didn’t go directly to his superior with his concerns, Vindman replied that “it was a really busy week. Also the lawyer told me not to talk to anyone else.”
“And yet you talked to your brother, to George Kent, and a CIA person you won’t name,” Jordan argued.
Vindman has maintained, like Chairman Schiff somewhat unconvincingly, that he does not know the identity of the whistleblower.
Multiple military vets made biting comments on Twitter about Vindman during and after his testimony.
Tim Kennedy, an active, Green Beret, Special Forces Sniper with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said “correcting a civilian about how to be addressed is for sure a way to make everyone in the military think you’re a douche bag.”
Correcting a civilian about how to be a addressed is a for sure way to make everyone in the military think you are a douche bag. https://t.co/uclV6B7VnG
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) November 19, 2019
Mark Geist, a member of the heroic Annex Security Team that fought the Battle of Benghazi, Libya, on September, 11 2012, called Vindman a “disgrace.”
Vindman is a disgrace to all who have served. Transcript of his previous closed door testimony he clearly admits to undermining the @POTUS foreign policy and now he has chairman Schiff advising him on how to answer questions. @codeofvets #treason #traitor #POS #conductunbecoming https://t.co/1FVActrpS0
— Mark Geist (@MarkGeistSWP) November 19, 2019
Former U.S. Navy SEAL and special warfare operator Robert James O’Neill said Vindman is an “operative with an agenda.” O’Neill is widely credited with firing the shot that killed Osama bin Laden.
I agree. I wish the left wouldn’t use his uniform to make him a saint. He’s an operative with an agenda. https://t.co/b6JfanQ2aQ
— Robert J. O'Neill (@mchooyah) November 19, 2019
Former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie called for Vindman to be dishonorably discharged. Higbie served two tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom, reaching the rate of Special Warfare Operator, First Class.
How about a dishonorable discharge for #Vindman
➡️Conduct unbecoming
➡️Lying under oath
➡️Undermining @POTUS on foreign policyStart there…
— Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) November 19, 2019
Former US Army Special Forces soldier Jim Hanson called Vindman “prissy” and “the Frank Burns of the NSC,” who is “hated by everyone in his unit.”
#Vindman is the Frank Burns of the NSC
He corrects @DevinNunes who called him Mr. w/ the prissy reply
"It's LTC Vindman"He's right
But only a fat-faced loser
Hated by everyone in his unit
Acts like that pic.twitter.com/2qvQJONs9B— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) November 19, 2019
Legendary Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, the “lone survivor” of a elite four-man operation that went terribly wrong in Afghanistan in 2005, spoke up on Twitter when an Army vet attacked the president’s son Donald Trump Jr.
“I served this country too,” Luttrell said. “Our job as those in the uniform is to protect those that don’t wear it, not to defame them, especially the the First Family.”
Hey Fred, I served this country too. Our job as those in the uniform is to protect those that don’t wear it, not to defame them, especially the the First Family.
— Marcus Luttrell (@MarcusLuttrell) November 20, 2019
Lt. Col (Ret.) Jim Hickman, who remembers Vindman as an anti-American partisan, was particularly irked by Vindman’s decision to wear his full military uniform, telling American Greatness that he did it “to again make him beyond reproach, and to make a political statement against the President. He should’ve worn his daily uniform, which is a civilian suit, period.”
The Iraq/Afghanistan war vet said that civilians are under no obligation to refer to officers by their rank but it’s considered proper etiquette to do so while they are in uniform. However, he told American Greatness that Vindman shouldn’t have been in uniform.
“LTC Vindman showed his pompous, arrogant side in today’s hearing by demanding Congressman Nunes address him as Lieutenant Colonel Vindman,” Hickman said. “The same arrogance he showed by advising the Ukrainians to do just the opposite of what President Trump’s policy was. The same arrogance that has him working against the President as a partisan in Congressman Adam Schiff’s sham impeachment.”
He added, “I witnessed this partisanship back in 2013 at Atlas Vision 13, and he hasn’t changed a bit.”
The retired officer went on to vent: “I cannot express how pissed off I am right now, having watched LTC Vindman have his ass kissed by the Democrats through the entire hearing to make him out as some sort of national hero, when I know he’s a partisan hack.”
Earlier this month, LTC Hickman shared his memories of Vindman’s disgraceful behavior in Germany on Twitter and with American Greatness. Later, the New York Times published an unfair hit-piece on the disabled vet, in an effort to discredit him.
LTC Hickman is a wounded warrior who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and received numerous combat medals—including the Purple Heart. He took medical leave from the service in 2017 due to complications from his injuries
The Times didn’t refer to the war hero by his rank a single time in their piece.
“Makes me feel like all the harassment I went through was for nothing. Nobody even challenged his partisanship,” LTC Hickman told American Greatness.
The retired officer told American Greatness that his family has been receiving harassing and threatening phone calls since he decided to come forward with his story.
“My family and I have endured harassment for over two weeks now, because I stepped forward with the truth about Vindman. Today was a let down, and I call on anyone else who’s served with him and seen this same partisanship to have the courage to come forward,” he said. “Truth must be paramount, as there are those trying to malign against the constitution and the office of the presidency.”