Alexander Vindman
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Alexander Semyon Vindman (born Aleksandr Semyonovich Vindman, June 6, 1975) is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director of European Affairs for the United States National Security Council (NSC) until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020. Vindman came to national attention in October 2019 as a key witness before the United States Congress regarding the Trump–Ukraine scandal. His testimony revealed that he triggered the House inquiry, and provided evidence that resulted in a charge of abuse of power in the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Commissioned in 1999 as an infantry officer, Vindman received a Purple Heart medal for wounds he received from an IED attack in the Iraq War in 2004. Vindman became a foreign area officer specializing in Eurasia in 2008 and assumed the position of Director of European Affairs with the NSC in 2018. In July 2020, Vindman retired after 21 years in the military after his promotion to colonel was delayed, citing vengeful behavior, retaliation, 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. At the time of his retirement, Vindman's promotion to the rank of colonel had been abnormally stalled and the promotion of hundreds of his peers delayed by the administration. In February 2022, he unsuccessfully sued several Trump allies, with the case being dismissed early in the proceedings due to the broad protections afforded to the defendants as a result of their service in the Trump Administration. Vindman alleged that the defendants had intimidated and retaliated against him for his congressional testimony.