Alexander Vindman, the Ukrainian-born Purple Heart recipient and U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, is testifying about his concerns regarding President Donald Trump’s interactions with Ukraine.
However, his politics – including whether he is a Democrat of Republican – is something that Alex Vindman has kept pretty close to the vest. He’s a career Army officer who told Congress he has tried to serve Democrats and Republicans in a “nonpartisan manner,” Politifact reports.
“We do not serve any political party,” Vindman testified on November 19 about himself and other career Army officers. “…The Army is the only profession I have ever known.”
Alexander Vindman is a U.S. Army official and the Director of European Affairs for the National Security Council. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq, after he was injured from an IED attack during his deployment. He is also known as the top Ukraine expert for the National Security Council, and was one of the government officials present for the July 25 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky, in which Trump asked the foreign leader to investigate the Biden family.
President Trump has labeled Alexander Vindman a “never Trumper,” tweeting, “Yesterday’s Never Trumper witness could find NO Quid Pro Quo in the Transcript of the phone call. There were many people listening to the call. How come they (including the President of Ukraine) found NOTHING wrong with it. Witch Hunt!” In contrast, reports Politifact, Donald Trump Jr. has labeled Vindman “a leftist.”
However, Politifact reported that no evidence has emerged of Vindman opposing Trump politically, and some top Republican officials, such as Liz Cheney, the Republican from Wyoming and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, have defended him.
“We’re talking about decorated veterans who have served this nation, who have put their lives on the line,” Cheney said Oct. 29 of Vindman and others. “It is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this nation, and we should not be involved in that process.
Campaign finance records do not show any federal donations for him, and his social media page does not contain anything visibly political.
“I am a patriot,” Alexander Vindman declared in his statement to Congress. “It is my sacred duty and honor to advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics.” He wrote that he had served the country in a “non partisan manner, and have done so with the utmost respect and professionalism for both Republican and Democratic administrations.”
Alexander Vindman’s Twin Once Helped a Democratic Political Candidate
Eugene Vindman
Vindman comes from a family of immigrants and were raised in Brooklyn’s “Little Odessa.” He and his identical twin brother, Eugene were 3 years old when their family left Ukraine for America. They also have an older brother.
There’s a little more known about the politics of Alexander Vindman’s twin brother, Eugene Vindman. That’s because he once helped the campaign of a Democrat.
Like his twin, Eugene Vindman has forged a career in White House civil service. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported that it’s possible Eugene Vindman might also be called to testify. Alexander Vindman has stated that Eugene Vindman, also called Yevgeny Vindman, “witnessed (the) decision to move Trump-Zelensky call’s transcript to a top secret server,” The Journal reported of the president’s call to the president of Ukraine.
Vindman’s twin brother lists his title as attorney at the White House on his Facebook page. Born Yevgeny Vindman, he goes by Eugene Vindman on social media.
The twin’s Facebook page explains that he is an attorney at The White House and a former Attorney at Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Army. He also says that he is a former Senior Trial Counsel at U.S. Army and former Major at United States Army.
According to JTA, Eugene Vindman is a lawyer on the national security council. CNN called Eugene Vindman “the chief ethics counsel at NSC.”
Eugene Vindman’s Facebook page also describes him as a “former Campaign Strategist at Bobby Saxon for Congress (GA District 10).”
Saxon ran as a Democrat. According to an article in The Red & Black, Saxon running for public office for the first time and called himself a “regular guy.”
The 2008 article describes him as saying, “I’m 46-years-old, and I’ve never run for an office. Most of all, I’m a frustrated American who’s mad that politicians have no clue what it’s like to be one of us. We need regular people with common sense in Washington D.C.”
Like Eugene Vindman, Saxon had an Army background. “I’m a major in the Georgia Army National Guard,” he explained.
Alexander Vindman Is the Top Ukraine Expert on the National Security Council
GettyArmy Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, arrives at a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees October 29, 2019 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Alexander Vindman, a Ukranian-American immigrant, is the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, according to the New York Times. He was elected to the council in July 2018. Prior to his work on the National Security Council, he was working as a military affairs officer for Russia for the chairman of the joint chiefs, according to his opening statement.
Per his LinkedIn, Vindman attended Binghamton University as an undergraduate. He later attended Harvard University for graduate school. Specifically, he enrolled in Harvard’s REECA Master’s Program, which is based at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
Vindman has served for over two decades in the United States Army. He was awarded a Purple Heart after being injured in an IED attack while he served in Iraq. Per his opening statement, he also served overseas tours in Germany and South Korea.
Vindman’s military career began in January 1999, according to his LinkedIn. He worked as an infantry officer for just under ten years, before being promoted to a foreign area officer in 2008. He is still serving as a foreign area officer, per his LinkedIn. In total, he has served for the U.S. Army for just shy of 21 years.
Vindman’s LinkedIn bio reads,
Service in political-military advisory roles.
Specialties: Extensive leadership experience.
Russian and Ukrainian language fluency.
Expertise in civil-military relations.”
Vindman is now a director for European affairs at the National Security Council as well. He offered up some details about his daily work life for the NSC in his opening statement, explaining, “In my position, I coordinate with a superb cohort of inter-agency partners. regularly prepare internal memoranda, talking points, and other materials for the National Security Advisor and senior staff.”
The Brothers Grew Up in an Immigrant Family in ‘Little Odessa’
Alex Vindman
Alexander Vindman said in his statement to Congress that his “family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half years old.” In his statement to the House, Alex Vindman described his father’s sacrifices after the family first arrived in America.
“Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs to support us, all the while learning English at night,” it says. “He stressed to us the importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. For many years, life was quite difficult. In spite of our challenging beginnings, my family worked to build its own American dream. I have a deep appreciation for American values and ideals and the power of freedom.”
He referred to himself as an immigrant in the statement. “The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, an immigrant.”
According to The New York Times, the family had “only their suitcases and $750” when they arrived in America. The father, Semyon Vindman, became an engineer, The Times reported.
A page by Carol Kitman photography describes the Vindman family in greater detail. The page says the photographer “first saw Sanya and genya Vindman and their grandmother, Mrs. Kalmanovitch, under the El on Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn’s ‘Little Odessa.’” Sanya and Genya were the names given to Vindman and his twin at that time.
That was more than 30 years ago. “The Vindman family had emigrated to the US from Kiev in the Ukraine in December of 1979. Semyon Vindman wanted a free and better life for his 3 sons – the twins, then 4, and 11 year old Leonid. Their mother had recently died, in Kiev and when they came to America, their maternal grandmother came along to help with the boys,” the page continues.
“I think their father felt they would do better in the United States as Jews,” Kitman told The New York Times. Kitman’s page contains photos of the Vindman family throughout the years. Here’s a photo of the boys with their father and older brother.
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