3/16/21 Vindication for a Vindman

Life wasn't easy for Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, a modern-day boy scout, after he testified in Trump's first impeachment hearing that the President pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on then-candidate Joe Biden. (Vindman had been one of several officials listening in on Trump's call to Ukraine's president.) After “a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation," as he put it, Alex Vindman retired from the military last July.

It wasn't easy for his twin brother Yevgeny ("Eugene"), either. Yevgeny reported ethics violations by former National Security advisor Robert O'Brien for using his staff for personal errands and demeaningly sexist behavior among female NSC employees. Both Vindman brothers worked at the National Security Agency. Already angry with Alex, the NSC Trumpists got even with Yevgeny, who was also a Lieutenant Colonel. It was easy: He got bad job evaluations from his supervisors, Trump appointees John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis, from the White House Counsel's office. The evaluations stopped dead any hope he had of upward progress in his career.

Here's what Eisenberg said of Yevgeny the previous year: Vindman was “a top 1% military attorney and officer ... [who] can do any job in the legal field under unusual and constant pressure and scrutiny. Select now for SSC [Senior Service College] and promote immediately to COL. Absolutely unlimited potential!” Let's just say that a bad evaluation was unexpected.

Yevgeny was the senior ethics official at the National Security Council and its deputy legal adviser from July 2018 to February 2020. He stayed in the military. Trump fired both brothers from the NSC. They were escorted out of the White House and sent back to the Pentagon.

Last August, Yevgeny filed a complaint of retaliation with the Pentagon inspector. It began, "This is one of the clearest and highest-profile cases of whistleblower reprisal in American history."

Michel Russell, a major general and assistant deputy chief of staff, investigated and found that the evaluations were "not objective." The Army later deleted those evaluations. They never went to the promotions board as official records.

Now, Vindman is set to be promoted to full colonel, according to Politico.com.

It's about time, no? Wouldn't it be wonderful if Alexander Vindman were offered a boffo post?
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/15/yevgeny-vindman-promotion-post-trump-476038?fbclid=IwAR23N8hlDzDbDPsY5tUjdrgxt0ASrTEC6mLCKffx7S05qcGBz0NaPTpbiF4