Ready For Impeachment Round 2? NYT Says Republican Senators Begged Trump Not To Fire Sondland

Most Americans probably tuned out after President Trump’s soaring State of the Union address Tuesday night (at an hour and 18 minutes, the speech tied President Clinton’s 1999 SOTU for fifth-longest in modern history)…

Courtesy of Forbes and Statista

…but anybody who stayed awake to watch the Democrats’ angry rebuttals from the floor of the House might have heard Texas Democrat Al Green – aka “Mr. Impeachment” (he unsuccessfully drafted articles of impeachment at least three times before Nancy Pelosi backed impeachment last fall in response to the July 25 transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky) – remind his fellow Dems that they are still obligated to hold Trump accountable by impeaching him again, if necessary.

After the embarrassment of the first impeachment charade, one would think Pelosi and the progressive Dems who now seem to be driving her agenda might have learned their lesson. But if we’ve learned anything about the Democrats since President Trump rode down the Trump Tower escalator on that fateful June day back in 2015, it’s that they don’t learn easy.

Outraged Democrats accused Trump of carrying out a Friday night massacre when he fired the Vindman twins and Ambassador Gordon Sondland, presumably in retaliation for the testimony they gave during the Dems’ impeachment investigation.

So when the New York Times published a bombshell report Saturday night claiming that several Republican senators tried to stop President Trump from firing impeachment witnesses Gordon Sondland and the Vindman twins, we understood the subtext: Get ready for impeachment round 2.

In the report, the NYT claimed that several Republican Senators, including Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Martha McSally and Ron Johnson tried to talk Trump out of firing Sondland, arguing that he should be allowed to leave on his own terms, which, by all accounts, he was planning to do anyway.

However, President Trump was insistent: He wanted Sondland out that day. So Sondland was contacted by the State Department and told that they needed his resignation Friday. Worried about being included in a wider purge of witnesses (since words about the Vindman twins had already gotten out), Sondland refused, and said the president would need to fire him if he wanted him out that day. And Trump obliged.

Trump tweeted that he fired Vindman in part because of “horrendous” reports from his superiors and because he was “very insubordinate.” but Trump offered no reason for why he fired VIndman’s brother, Yevgeny Vindman, an Army Lieutenant Colonel who worked as a lawyer for the NSC staff. Though, to be fair, it’s not like they’re being thrown out on the street: they’re simply moving back to the Department of Defense.

Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about “Lt. Col.” Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was. Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my “perfect” calls incorrectly, &…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

….was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. In other words, “OUT”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

According to the NYT, few Republican senators had a problem with Trump firing the Vindmans, since Lt. Col. Alex Vindman gave statements in his testimony that were viewed as ‘overtly political.’

The senators did not express the same concern about Colonel Vindman, who is viewed less sympathetically by the president’s allies. Republicans considered some of Colonel Vindman’s comments during his testimony overtly political and, in any case, believed it was untenable for him to remain on the staff of a president with whom he broke so publicly.

Other witnesses who testified during the investigation, which never conclusively established a quid pro quo between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine (you’ll probably remember that Zelensky himself insisted there never was a quid pro quo, and the military aid was ultimately released), have left quietly in recent days, per the NYT.

Other witnesses who testified have quietly left their positions in recent days. Jennifer Williams, a career official working for Vice President Mike Pence, asked to return early to the Defense Department. Marie L. Yovanovitch, the ambassador to Ukraine removed from her post last spring because she was seen as an obstacle to the president and his associates, retired from the Foreign Service. And her acting successor, William B. Taylor Jr., returned home as well.

Though none of this stopped Vindman’s lawyer from accusing Trump of lying about his client.

“They conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the president is well aware,” said the lawyer, David Pressman. “While the most powerful man in the world continues his campaign of intimidation, while too many entrusted with political office continue to remain silent, Lt. Col. Vindman continues his service to our country as a decorated, active duty member of our military.”

Collins, the only Senator actually quoted in the NYT piece, but only to offer a clarification about an earlier comment, explaining that she voted to acquit Trump because she thought he had “learned his lesson” about leaning on foreign governments to do his political bidding (allegedly, that is).

A handful of Republican senators tried to stop President Trump from firing Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union who testified in the House impeachment hearings, but the president relieved the diplomat of his post anyway, according to people briefed on the discussions.

The senators were concerned that it would look bad for Mr. Trump to dismiss Mr. Sondland and argued that it was unnecessary, since the ambassador was already talking with senior officials about leaving after the Senate trial, the people said. The senators told White House officials that Mr. Sondland should be allowed to depart on his own terms, which would have reduced any political backlash.

The NYT report also included a warning embedded in the text: Many of these witnesses, now unencumbered by loyalties to the administration and badly in need of a pay day, might start talking – and, more importantly, writing.

Some of these witnesses may begin to speak out. Mr. Taylor has given a series of news media interviews in recent days. And Ms. Yovanovitch has enlisted the Javelin literary agency, picking the same agents who represent John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, among others.

In other words: Expect more salacious, ‘Bolton-style’ leaks.

Evidently, President Trump wasn’t interested in Senators’ arguments about minimizing the political backlash by letting Sondland stay on for at least a little bit longer. But is that really a surprise?

President Trump has spent decades cultivating an image as a hard-nosed businessman (he once reportedly thanked a reporter who wrote a story about the Trumps being nightmare landlords because it made him ‘look tough’). He’s listened to his advisors and backed down before (remember that time Trump tried to pull American troops out of Syria?). Some believe he caved to the Chinese after acquiescing to the free traders in his administration.

But when it came to the senior employees in his own administration ‘revising their testimony’ in a way that cast aspersions on the president’s character, Trump clearly felt that he had an obligation to send a message not only to the public, but to others in his administration. The left might call this ‘bullying’. In the business world, one might call this crafting a culture of loyalty and honesty (ignoring the contents of his testimony for a moment, he blatantly lied to Congress during his initial closed-door testimony).

Sondland was a successful developer and persistent Republican donor before Trump appointed him ambassador to the EU, ignoring gripes about his complete lack of diplomatic experience. It would seem the president has now come to regret that decision.

Dems have enough on their plate right now cleaning up problems in their own house, what with the disaster in Iowa last week. But if you think that’s going to stop Nancy Pelosi from cobbling together more articles of impeachment, well…