https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/11/banana-republic-obrien-vindman-dismissals-114212
National security adviser Robert
O’Brien on Tuesday defended the dismissal of Lt. Cols. Alexander and
Yevgeny Vindman from the National Security Council, suggesting that the
officials were trying to undermine the president.
“We’re not a country where a bunch of
lieutenant colonels can get together and decide what the policy is of
the United States,” O’Brien said during an event at the Atlantic Council
think tank. “We are not a banana republic.”
O’Brien
also insisted that the twin brothers — one of whom, Alexander, was a
crucial witness against President Donald Trump in the investigation that
led to his impeachment on a charge of abuse of power — were
“absolutely” not retaliated against.
But
Trump tweeted on Saturday that Alexander Vindman was “OUT” because he
was “insubordinate” and had reported the contents of Trump’s July phone
call with the Ukrainian president “incorrectly.” It also still isn’t
clear why Yevgeny Vindman, an NSC ethics lawyer who was not involved in
the impeachment process at all, was fired.