Alexander Vindman is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council until he was reassigned on February 7,2020.
27 Facts About Alexander Vindman
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Alexander Vindman's testimony provided evidence that resulted in a charge of abuse of power in the impeachment of Donald Trump.
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Alexander Vindman became a foreign area officer specializing in Eurasia in 2008, and assumed the position of Director for European Affairs with the NSC in 2018.
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In July 2020, Alexander Vindman retired after 21 years in the military.
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Alexander Vindman cited vengeful behavior and bullying by President Trump and administration officials after he complied with a subpoena to testify in front of Congress during Trump's impeachment hearings.
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Alexander Semyon Vindman and his identical twin brother Yevgeny were born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union to a Jewish family.
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Alexander Vindman graduated in 1993 from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School.
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In 1999, Alexander Vindman graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a bachelor of arts degree in history.
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Alexander Vindman took part in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps while in college and received a second lieutenant's commission in the Army's Infantry Branch in January 1999.
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Alexander Vindman later received a master of arts degree from Harvard University in Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian studies.
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Alexander Vindman completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning in 1999 and was sent the next year to South Korea, where he led both infantry and anti-armor platoons.
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Alexander Vindman was promoted to the rank of major in 2008, and to lieutenant colonel in September 2015.
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Alexander Vindman was on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon from September 2015 to July 2018.
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In July 2018, Alexander Vindman accepted an assignment with the National Security Council.
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Alexander Vindman was subpoenaed to testify before Congressional investigators on October 29,2019, as part of the US House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
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Alexander Vindman is the first White House official to testify who was actually on a July 25,2019, telephone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, while his father was campaigning for President.
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Alexander Vindman later testified in person before the US House of Representatives on November 19,2019.
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On February 7,2020, Alexander Vindman told NSC colleagues he expected to leave the White House's National Security Council to return to the Department of Defense.
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Later that day Alexander Vindman was escorted out of the White House, according to his attorney.
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Alexander Vindman's remarks contradicted Trump, who tweeted that he had ousted Vindman for insubordination and for doing "a lot of bad things".
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Less than a week later, Alexander Vindman announced through his lawyer that he would be retiring from the US military.
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In November 2020, Alexander Vindman joined the staff of the national security blog Lawfare with a fellowship of the Pritzker Military Foundation.
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On February 2,2022, Alexander Vindman sued several Trump allies, alleging that they intimidated and retaliated against him while he testified in Congress, and thereby violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.
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Alexander Vindman's identical twin brother, Yevgeny S "Eugene" Vindman, is an Army colonel and JAG Officer who was assigned as an attorney on the National Security Council staff handling ethics issues, until he was dismissed from that post on February 7,2020, the same time as Alexander was removed from his NSC post; Yevgeny was promoted by the Biden administration to colonel on March 16,2021.
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Alexander Vindman has an older brother, Leonid Alexander Vindman, who served as an Army officer.
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Alexander Vindman appeared in "The Mormon Advantage", the finale of the 11th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, in December 2021.
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Alexander Vindman is a recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge; Expert Infantryman Badge; Ranger Tab; Basic Parachutist Badge; the Presidential Service Badge; and Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge.