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<snip to ending>Vindman is a decorated Army lieutenant colonel and an Iraq War veteran with a Purple Heart. That, of course, does not mean his conduct cannot be criticized. But Vindman testifies that he reported all his concerns over Trump up the chain of command, following procedure and working within official channels.It was the object of his concern, Rudy Giuliani, who was going around official channels. Indeed, Giuliani was pressuring Ukrainian officials not only on behalf of Trump as a private client — a completely inappropriate interference in foreign policy — but also on behalf of the Russian gangsters who were paying him and running a side hustle shaking down Ukraine’s energy department.The Republican position is that there’s no loyalty problem involved in having American foreign policy conducted by an off-the-books lawyer with no security clearance who was apparently on the payroll of the Russian Mafia. The security problem is the NSC official advising an American ally about how to deal with the goons demanding that the ally subvert the independence of its judicial system and insert itself into the American election, and also that it give the goons a little taste of the gas-import business. The Republicans’ logic is that Giuliani and his sleazy clients represent “the president’s interest,†as Ingraham put it. And the president’s interest, however corrupt or improper, is the national interest. If you are working at cross-purposes with Rudy and his thugs, you must be disloyal to America.
They've Got Him Nowâ„¢
The Atlantic? NY Mag? You're on a roll this morning.
