![]() ![]() And the courage of one person to call out wrongdoing may inspire others, including both career employees and political appointees who found themselves in Trump’s orbit during the orchestration of the big lie. No president should be able to besmirch a public servant with lies about his patriotism in an effort to deflect attention from his own misconduct. This, we can hope, is one of those moments. Sometimes it can be enough, or at least a start, to take the first step forward, on principle. Vindman’s lawsuit alleges that the chilling effect of his treatment didn’t stop with Trump’s impeachment trials: “Witnesses subpoenaed by Congress in connection with its investigation into the events of January 6, 2021, continue to heed former President Trump’s instructions to defy those subpoenas, undermining Congress’s constitutional oversight role and the fundamental principle of checks and balances between three co-equal branches of government.” The allegation is both stunning - that a president would undermine the rule of law in such a serious and pervasive manner - and unsurprising, at least for anyone who paid attention during Trump’s time in office. They delayed, using sometimes dubious assertions of privilege that prevented them from testifying before the proceedings ended. But many others didn’t, including Trump’s man in Kyiv, Rudy Giuliani, national security adviser John Bolton, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Some witnesses, like Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. That message seemed to hit home at the time of Trump’s first impeachment. ![]()
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