Inquiring minds want to know where Lt. Col. Alex Vindman is when you need him? Remember #ReleaseTheTranscript, referencing President Trump's "perfect call"—the call with President Zelensky of Ukraine in July of 2019? Well, if you don't, it was the call that led to Trump's impeachment proceedings. And Vindman was at the center of it all, a key "witness" in the Democrats' probe referencing Trump's call. Vindman, 44 years old at the time, testified that Trump allegedly pressured Zenlensky to investigate the Biden family's corrupt dealings in Ukraine. He says it was the "one call that changed his life," Vindman wrote for the Atlantic.
On July 25, 2019, Trump's 30-minute call with Zelensky showed Trump speaking to him with his characteristic and well-practiced brand of candor and bravado. He congratulated Zelensky on his successful victory in his presidential run in Ukraine. The two leaders seemed to be collegially discussing the challenges they faced as a product of their positions. They discussed other leaders and geopolitical concerns in the region. They shared, among other things, the similarities between the two countries and their presidential races. Zelensky remarked that job number one would be to have "a new format, and a new type of government," complimenting Trump for being a "great teacher for that."
Trump also asked President Zelensky to "do us a favor." He wanted him to "find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine; they say Crowdstrike," meaning President Trump wanted to better understand Biden's family alleged lucrative dealings there and the reason Biden "stopped the prosecution" of his son, Hunter. In fact, Biden bragged about it in January of 2018, mentioning funds would be withheld if the prosecution wasn't shut down. The next we know, Trump is being accused of quid-pro-quo bargaining with Zelenskly. Zelensky, however, publicly stated he never felt any pressure from Trump.
Excerpts from the "perfect call" are pictured below:
Perfect Call excerpts
Trump Was Swallowed Whole By The Swamp
Trump, a Washington outsider, was, at times, seemingly ill-prepared for the ugliness of D.C., later admitting he "never knew the swamp was this deep." His presidency was beleaguered by years of investigations.
The D.C. swamp had concluded that his 2016 Presidential campaign was only victorious because Putin and Trump had worked together for his win. What became known as the Russia investigation—was Special Prosecutor Mueller's prized but failed effort to prove that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win his 2016 seat in the Oval Office. To this day, because of media gaslighting and obfuscation, many still believe that Mueller and his posse of political insiders proved Trump was in Putin's back pocket and the main reason Trump beat Hillary Clinton. Few truly understand the details of the investigation, not the least of which was Mueller's abuse of the FISA warrant system to spy on Trump's campaign.
Vindman's Ironic OpEd: Trump's Tweets Hurt
In August of 2021, Vindman provides his perspective for the context of the call in an OpEd for the Atlantic. He explains his worries over the coherency of Trump's tweets, concerned that "something could blow up at any time." The ironies are rife here if not prophetic, given Biden's level of operating coherency.
"Weeks earlier," Vindman wrote:
"The White House had abruptly put a hold on nearly $400 million in U.S. security aid that Congress had earmarked for Ukraine. This was money that Ukraine badly needed to fend off the continuous threat of Russian aggression. The abrupt, unexplained White Household was baffling. Not only was it a 180-degree turn from the stated policy the entire U.S. government-supported, but it was also contrary to U.S. national security interests in the region."
After all, said Vindman, Ukraine had requested aid because "Ukraine's security was precarious, but the country's importance as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe had only grown. The region could not have been more sensitive, volatile, or crucial to U.S. and NATO interests. This was money that Ukraine badly needed to fend off the continuous threat of Russian aggression," Vindman continued.
Vindman/Here, Right Matters
One thing remains consistent. Vindman likes to insert himself into U.S. policy, whether he is relevant or not. Back in 2019, he consulted intelligence personnel on the call. However, Vindman testified he never leaked intelligence on the call. He said he spoke with the Whistleblower but didn't know who he was. The Whistleblower was not a direct witness to "most of the events described." The Whistleblower wrote a letter to the Select Committee on Intelligence on Aug. 12 to report "an urgent concern."
Whistleblower Letter/Aug. 2019
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) wrote an 11-page letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking member on the Committee on Oversight and Reform, to provide his insight and "first-hand accounting" of the Trump-Zelensky call. In the Nov. 18, 2019 letter, Johnson referred to Vindman's actions as the "first of many steps to a coup" with impeachment to come soon. Johnson was, at the time, chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Johnson explained his reservations about Vindman's insertion into foreign policy. Johnson delineated why Vindman's input was largely irrelevant. Vindman was speaking, Johnson wrote, from an" 'unelected position' when the Constitution vests the power of conducting foreign policy with the duly elected president and that those bureaucrats who might disagree with the president, they should use those powers of persuasion within their legal chain of command to get the president to agree with their viewpoint. They should not seek to undermine the policy by leaking to people outside their chain of command," which is exactly what Vindman did.
Johnson Letter/Vindman
Vindman, however, being the amazing foreign policy expert he is, decided to busybody his way into executive branch foreign policy to essentially aid and abet in a coup because of a "normal" call between two world leaders. He may have been well-meaning, but his input was largely political in nature. Those who didn't like Trump both knew it, and they used it against him, and the American people have suffered because of it.
And now again, fresh out of retirement with no standing or office to speculate or opine, here is our friend Lt. Col Vindman, in his imaginary position of foreign intelligence advisor to Biden and the media, tweeting about being on the "cusp of war... It's all but certain in my mind there's going to be a large European war," as he states in the video below.
Conspicuously, he fails to call for any transcript, nor does he bring forward a whistleblower—surely with his connections, he could find one. While he doesn't seem to know it, he isn't really an advisor. However, given we might have a "large European war" on our hands, risking the lives of our military men and women, you'd think Vindman would want to know exactly what President Zelensky, "who is there," had to say about it. Heck, Vindman can watch Zelensky's press conference. He speaks Russian. Oddly, his concern over how President Biden handled the call is also conspicuously missing here. How times have changed.
Biden is the "leader" of the free world, but no worries. No need to see the transcript. Vindman has things under control. Swampers gonna swamp.
