‘We are not a banana republic’: National security adviser defends Vindman dismissals

National security adviser Robert O’Brien on Tuesday defended the dismissal of Lt. Cols. Alexander and Yevgeny Vindman from the National Security Council, suggesting that the officials were trying to undermine the president.

“We’re not a country where a bunch of lieutenant colonels can get together and decide what the policy is of the United States,” O’Brien said during an event at the Atlantic Council think tank. “We are not a banana republic.”

O’Brien also insisted that the twin brothers — one of whom, Alexander, was a crucial witness against President Donald Trump in the investigation that led to his impeachment on a charge of abuse of power — were “absolutely” not retaliated against.

But Trump tweeted on Saturday that Alexander Vindman was “OUT” because he was “insubordinate” and had reported the contents of Trump’s July phone call with the Ukrainian president “incorrectly.” It also still isn’t clear why Yevgeny Vindman, an NSC ethics lawyer who was not involved in the impeachment process at all, was fired.

Two people close to the Vindmans told POLITICO on Monday that while Alexander Vindman was preparing to be fired after Trump’s acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, and even began taking his belongings home from the office in preparation, Yevgeny Vindman’s firing was “a complete shock” and he had still received “no explanation whatsoever” from the White House.

One of O’Brien’s top priorities since taking office in September has been a “rightsizing”, or downsizing, of the NSC staff. He suggested on Tuesday that more cuts were to come: The policy staff “will be down to” around 115-120 people “by the end of this week,” he said in his prepared remarks.

But the cuts will probably be viewed with greater suspicion after the Vindmans’ firing — their removal came hours after the president told reporters he was “not happy” with them, and Trump said on Tuesday that the military “will certainly, I imagine, take a look” at taking disciplinary action against Alexander Vindman. Both brothers have now gone back to the Army.

O’Brien disputed the notion that the Vindmans were fired, but said that because of the NSC’s small budget, “as we reduce the number of detailees, the percentage of political appointees will increase slightly.”

“None of the detailees that leave NSC are fired,” O’Brien said at the Atlantic Council event. “It’s a privilege to work at the White House, it’s not a right. … The Vindmans had served there for over a year. Their services were no longer needed.”

Alexander Vindman’s detail was not set to end until July. But O’Brien insisted that “the president has to have confidence in his NSC staff to ensure that they’re going to execute the agenda he was elected to deliver.”