Republicans, including the president, fixated on the NSC official’s decision to wear his Army uniform.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s military service was front and center at Tuesday’s impeachment hearing, with Democratic members of Congress trumpeting their witness’ patriotism and Republican lawmakers praising his heroic acts on the battlefield.
But the more ornamental markers of Vindman’s distinguished career in the armed forces, from his rank to his decision to wear his Army service uniform, also featured prominently in the National Security Council staffer’s testimony — occasionally becoming political lightning rods in a contentious televised session.
Addressing the House Intelligence Committee in the same dress uniform he donned for his closed-door deposition last month, Vindman often seemed insistent on reminding lawmakers of his status as an active-duty officer.
“Ranking member, it’s Lt. Col. Vindman, please,” he corrected Rep. Devin Nunes, after the panel’s top GOP member addressed him as “Mr.”
A veteran of the Iraq War who was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded by a roadside bomb, Vindman nevertheless has faced unfounded attacks regarding his allegiance to the U.S. by some conservative commentators in recent weeks.
Those insinuations, which were condemned by high-ranking congressional Republicans, emerged again Tuesday when the Intelligence Committee’s GOP counsel pressed Vindman on an offer by Ukraine’s government to become the Eastern European nation’s minister of defense.
Vindman, whose family fled the former Soviet Union when he was a child, said he “immediately dismissed” and “did not entertain” the overtures from Kyiv, telling lawmakers: “I’m an American.”
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) objected to the line of questioning by Republican attorney Steve Castor as a broadside “that may have come cloaked in a Brooks Brothers suit and in parliamentary language,” but was “designed exclusively to give the right-wing media an opening to question your loyalties.”
Himes laced his critique of Castor’s inquiry with a mention of Vindman’s uniform. “It’s what you stoop to when the indefensibility of your case requires that you attack a man who is wearing a Springfield rifle on a field of blue above a Purple Heart,” the congressman said.
It’s standard practice for active-duty military officials to wear dress garb while testifying on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) also invoked Vindman’s uniform while thanking him for his service, but noted that the government employee dressed differently for his work at the NSC.
“I see you’re wearing your dress uniform. Knowing that’s not the uniform of the day, that you normally wear a suit to the White House, I think it’s a great reminder of your military service,” he said.
Stewart went on to reference Vindman’s exchange with Nunes, asking, “Do you always insist on civilians calling you by your rank?”
“Mr. Stewart — Rep. Stewart — I’m in uniform wearing my military rank. I just thought it was appropriate to stick with that,” Vindman responded, citing “the attacks that I’ve had in the press and Twitter.”
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Republicans, including Donald Trump, fixated on Vindman's decision to wear his military uniform to the impeachment hearing todayhttps://t.co/g8icbwjhYU
— POLITICO (@politico) November 20, 2019One of the Colonel’s biggest attackers has been Trump himself. Yet, Trump just admitted that he doesn’t even know the Colonel. Of course, Trump’s loyal fans will continue to repeat Trump’s phony accusations about Col. Vindman.
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