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Alexander Vindman

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Alexander Vindman
Personal details
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Ukraine
EducationBinghamton University (BA)
Cornell University
Harvard University (MPA)

Alexander S. Vindman (1975- ) is an American foreign affairs specialist serving on the National Security Council as director for European Affairs.

Early life and education

Alexander Vindman and his twin brother Yevgeny were born in Ukraine. After the death of their mother, they were brought to New York in December 1979 by their father, Semyon (Simon) along with their older brother. They grew up in Brooklyn's "Little Odessa" neighborhood. The twins and their maternal grandmother were in the Ken Burns film, "The Statue of Liberty (film)".[1] Vindman speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian.[2]

Career

Volodymyr Zelensky 2019 presidential inauguration 39 with Alexander Vindman (far left) and U.S. delegation

Lt. Col. Vindman has served for two decades in the U.S. Army. He was promoted to the rank of major during 2008 [3] and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on September 8, 2015.[4] As an infantry officer he served multiple overseas tours, including South Korea and Germany. He is a decorated Iraq War veteran, having received a Purple Heart after being wounded by a roadside bomb.[5]

In his role on the NSC, Vindman became part of the U.S. delegation at the inauguration of the Ukraine's newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky.[6] [7]

Beginning in 2008, Vindman became a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this capacity he served in the U.S. embassies in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia. Returning to Washington, D.C. he was then a politico-military affairs officer focused on Russia for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In July 2018, Vindman accepted an assignment with the National Security Council.[8]

He has been subpoenaed to testify before Congressional investigators on October 29, 2019 regarding his knowledge regarding his possible knowledge of a July 25, 2019 telephone call between Zelensky and President Donald Trump.[9][10] He is expected to be the first White House official to testify who was actually on this telephone call that is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, in which Trump is alleged to have asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for president. Based on his planned opening statement, obtained in advance by The New York Times, Vindman's testimony will largely corroborate previous testimony from Fiona Hill, his former manager, and William B. Taylor Jr., acting ambassador to Ukraine.[11]

Testimony before US Congress in Trump Ukraine scandal

On October 28, 2019, Vindman’s opening statement released ahead of his October 29, 2019 testimony before a closed session of the House Intelligence Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and House Oversight Committee, states that

"In Spring of 2019, I became aware of outside influencers promoting a false and alternative narrative of Ukraine inconsistent with the consensus views of the interagency," and "harmful to US national security" and which "undermined U.S. government efforts to expand cooperation with Ukraine." [12]

Vindman states that, additionally, he was concerned by two events, both to which he objected to senior officials in real time, and which he reported to the National Security Council’s lead attorney. The first event occurred at a July 10 meeting between Ukraine's then Secretary of National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Danlylyuk, and then US National Security Advisor John Bolton, at which Ambassadors Volker and Sondland, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry were in attendance, and at which Sondland asked Ukraine to launch investigations into the Bidens in order to get a meeting with President Trump. Vindman states that Bolton cut the meeting short, and that both he and Fiona Hill told Ambassador Sondland that his comments were inappropriate, and that he reported the concerns to the NSC’s lead council.[13]

Official Opening Statement of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman Before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform October 29, 2019. (Released October 28, 2019)

The second event occurred on a July 25th phone call between President Trump and Zelensky. Vindman states, “‘I was concerned by the call. I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US Government's support of Ukraine, and the potential to undermine US national Security." Vindman also reported this event to the NSC's lead counsel.[11]

See also

Personal

Vindman is married to the former Rachel D. Cartmill.[14] Vindman's identical twin brother, Yevgeny, is an attorney on the National Security Council.

References

  1. ^ Carol Kitman, "The Vindman Twins," accessed Oct 28, 2019 [1]
  2. ^ The New York Times, "Army Officer on White House Staff Reported Concerns on Trump’s Ukraine Dealings" Oct 28, 2019 [2]
  3. ^ Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14], Senate pp 19177-19183 [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
  4. ^ Congressional Record, Nominations, Sept 8, 2015, [3]
  5. ^ The New York Times, "Army Officer on White House Staff Reported Concerns on Trump’s Ukraine Dealings" Oct 28, 2019 [4]
  6. ^ The White House, "President Donald J. Trump Announces Presidential Delegation to Attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine", May 18, 2019 [5]
  7. ^ The Ukrainian Weekly, "President Zelensky addresses heads of foreign delegations" Vol. LXXXVII, No. 22, p. 3, June 2, 2019 [6]
  8. ^ NPR, "READ: Ukraine Expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's Opening Statement", Oct 28, 2019 [7]
  9. ^ CNN, "White House Ukraine expert expected to testify about possible knowledge of Trump-Zelensky call", Oct 28, 2019 [8]
  10. ^ The Wall Street Journal, "House to Vote on a Road Map for Its Impeachment Inquiry", Oct 28, 2019 [9]
  11. ^ a b The Washington Post, "White House official to tell impeachment investigators he feared Trump’s demands of Ukraine would undermine national security," Oct 28, 2019 [10]
  12. ^ "READ: Ukraine Expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's Opening Statement". NPR.org. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "Read national security official Alexander S. Vindman's prepared remarks to Congress". NBC News. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  14. ^ Washington, Marriage Index, 1969-2014, accessed Oct. 28, 2019

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Vindman&oldid=923563380"