One of the key figures in the impeachment hearings for President Trump says his testimony effectively ended his career—but for telling the truth, he has no regrets. In a new op-ed in the Washington Post, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman reiterates that he stepped down from his military post after more than two decades due to "a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation by President Trump and his allies," which he believed forever stymied his career. He points out that other public servants who didn't get the big headlines he did met the same fate, leaving the Trump administration with "their integrity intact but their careers irreparably harmed." He notes the "personal turmoil" he endured and laments the state of the union, weakened by the coronavirus pandemic and economic collapse "while the president publicly bemoans his approval ratings."
"At no point in my career or life have I felt our nation's values under greater threat and in more peril than at this moment," he writes—except, he adds, "there is another way." He notes the "loving support of tens of thousands of Americans" he received in the face of attacks on his character, "a chorus of hope that drowns out the spurious attacks of a disreputable man and his sycophants." And he's optimistic for his own future and that of the nation, pledging to do all he can to push for accountability from leadership, advocate for wise national-security policy, and promote public service. "To this day, despite everything that has happened, I continue to believe in the American Dream," Vindman writes. "I believe that in America, right matters. I want to help ensure that right matters for all Americans." Read Vindman's entire piece here. (More Alexander Vindman stories.)
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