Trump sacks Jewish soldier after he gave evidence at impeachment trial

Donald Trump has sacked a decorated Jewish soldier from a senior position just days after the president was acquitted in an impeachment trial at which the soldier gave evidence.

Lt Col Alexander Vindman testified that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine despite its authorisation from Congress because he wanted Ukraine’s new president to investigate Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

Vindman had been the NSC official assigned to listen in on the call between Trump and President Zelensky, and alerted the NSC’s legal counsel to his concerns immediate after the call, saying the president and his closest advisors were acting “improperly”.

Just days after Trump survived the impeachment vote, owing to a Republican majority in the Senate, Vindman was sacked as director of European affairs at the National Security Council, and escorted out of the White House. His twin brother, Lt Col Yevgeny Vindman, was also sacked.

Vindman is a senior diplomat and decorated soldier, having been awarded the Purple Heart for his role during the Iraq War, during which he was injured.

During his testimony, Ukrainian-born Vindman revealed that his father Semyon, who fled the USSR with his Jewish family in the late 1970s, feared that his speaking out would bring retaliation.