Over the past few weeks, there have been a whole lot of bombshell, hilarious, and outrageous revelations to come out of former Trump-era Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s new tell-all book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, that just recently hit the shelves.
However, I honestly believe this may be the most downright disturbing one yet.
Business Insider reported on a recent revelation from A Sacred Oath, in which Esper exposes a “scorched earth campaign,” as the publication described it, by Donald Trump and his White House in an effort to kick Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman out of the United States military, as part of the then-president’s revenge plot against Vindman for daring to serve as a witness against him during his first impeachment trial in the House, over Trump’s so-called “perfect call” with Ukraine. This is the same call, of course, in which Donald Trump attempted to extort Ukrainian President Voldomyr Zelenskyy into producing political dirt on his then-opponent Joe Biden, by withholding Congressionally approved aid to the country. The same country that is now at war with Russia after Putin’s violent invasion and attack.
During an April 21, 2020, White House meeting, Esper alleges Trump told him of Vindman, “He lied about my great call.”
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The former Trump administration Pentagon Chief goes on to claim that then-President Trump said that Vindman “made it all up. He’s a Never Trumper. We need to get rid of him.”
Esper’s A Sacred Oath exposes never before seen details on Donald Trump and his White House’s unhinged efforts to absolutely destroy Alexander Vindman’s career, and even going so far as to try to block his Pentagon-endorsed promotion to colonel. Esper alleges that Trump’s chief of staff even screamed at the now-former Pentagon Chief that the Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient would “never get promoted.”
Vindman, who has become a very staunch a vocal critic of the ex-president on social media, personally responded to an early excerpt of A Sacred Oath by tweeting out a photo of an irate Trump, with a quote from the book as the caption: “[Trump] became obsessed with retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman… It was surprising how animated one army lieutenant colonel was able to make the leader of the free world.”
“[Trump] became obsessed with retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman… It was surprising how animated one army lieutenant colonel was able to make the leader of the free world.” @MarkTEsper pic.twitter.com/j1uWaVHxx3
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) May 9, 2022
Trump has, of course, vehemently maintained that his infamous conversation with the Ukrainian President was nothing more or less than a “perfect phone call,” and continues to claim that his request for Zelenskyy to “do us a favor” in return for the military aide that was already approved by Congress and being withheld by Trump was in no way evidence of the quid pro quo he stood accused of. Donald Trump was ultimately impeached by the House, but acquitted on removal from office by the GOP-led Senate.
Following Trump’s highly-publicized impeachment trial, both Vindman and his brother Yevgeny were fired from the National Security Council just days after the Senate acquitted him.
But Esper writes that even their ousting from the White House wasn’t enough to satisfy Trump’s hunger for revenge against the man who testified against him. The former Pentagon Chief alleges that Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was engaged in a concerted campaign to deny Vindamn a promotion and regularly and strongly implied that the White House would do whatever it took to find further evidence to back up a misconduct complaint against Vindman.
The former Defense Secretary says that it became evident early on “that the NSC had no real evidence or witnesses to offer.” He goes on to note that this was later officially confirmed by an Army inspector general’s investigation.
Ultimately, Esper claims their revenge warpath ended in a crescendo when a White House lawyer told Meadows that he could credibly stand accused of tampering with the investigation if they continued to press the matter.
See the full report from Business Insider here.
Featured image via screen capture
