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Alexander Vindman questions Trump's removal of US top defense officials, Internet says he 'has no plans to exit'

Vindman's questioning of Trump's decisions had many on social media thanking him for his service to the country and many hailed him as a 'true patriot'

 
Retired Lt Col Alexander Vindman, the former impeachment witness who was ousted from his government role after his testimony in front of members of the House is now questioning the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper by President Donald Trump. Esper was replaced by Christopher Miller - who in turn brought in his own chief of staff, Kash Patel, to replace Jen Stewart - former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council. Vindman, took to Twitter to question why a number of top officials overseeing policy, intelligence and the defense secretary’s staff were replaced by Trump loyalists. 

"In the last 24 hours, the Secretary of Defense (SecDef), the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD-P), and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intell (OUSD-I) have been sacked. Trump loyalist now sit in the 1, 3, and 4 slots at DOD. Kash Patel is DOD Chief of Staff. Why?" Vindman asked. It is important to note that Vindman did not have the most positive of experiences dealing with the Trump administration. He came to national attention in October 2019 when he testified before the US Congress regarding the Trump–Ukraine scandal. He had exposed how POTUS tried to use foreign policy leverage for personal electoral gain. Vindman is a decorated Iraq war veteran who served on the staff of the White House National Security Council. 

Vindman's testimony formed the crux of allegations of abuse of power against the president in the subsequent efforts by the Democratic lawmakers to impeach the POTUS. After he complied with a subpoena to testify in front of Congress, he claimed he faced vengeful behavior and bullying by President Trump and White House officials. After his promotion to the rank of colonel had been abnormally stalled by the administration, Vindman retired in July 2020. 

His tweet caused many on social media to wonder if Trump - who is yet to concede the race to President-elect Joe Biden following his loss in the election - was putting the national security at risk on his way out of the White House. "This is terrifying. National security is at risk."  Another wrote, "Breaking all the toys before he leaves." The next remarked, "It is the duty of these people to come forward immediately and tell the American people what is going on. Before they write books about it. Thank you for your service to this country. I hope you will be part of the new administration. You are a true patriot." 

"The only plausible explanation is that Trump intends to use the military in a way that is fundamentally unlawful & unacceptable," said one and to this, a worried social media user expressed his concern saying: "That is incredibly frightening. Are there any safeguards in place to prevent this? At what stage do they call in UN Peacekeepers? If this was an African nation, or Central American nation, or South East Asian nation, there would already be significant international condemnation." Another reasoned saying: "This is very suspicious behavior for an outgoing administration. It's almost like Trump has no plans to exit."

One person wrote, "Last week he removed the heads of the agencies that oversee the national nuclear stockpile, national power grid and foreign aid. Perilous times."

We previously reported that these new appointees, according to an article by Politico, "are fiercely loyal to Trump and have trafficked in 'deep state' conspiracy theories". Kashyap "Kash" Patel, who replaced Jen Stewart, is a member of the National Security Council (NSC). Earlier, Patel was a staffer for Republican Devin Nunes who has been the Representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2003 and was Chair of the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 to 2019. According to multiple reports, Nunes worked to discredit the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin and was investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics for improperly disclosing classified information to the public. Nunes has denied these allegations.