Trump ousts impeachment witnesses

WASHINGTON—Fallout from the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is settling on his administration. On Friday, the president ousted two White House officials who testified in the House of Representatives’ inquiry against him. Trump recalled Gordon Sondland from his post as ambassador to the European Union. Sondland testified about the alleged “quid pro quo” between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Security guards also escorted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a member of the National Security Council, out of the White House on Friday, moving him to a position at the Pentagon. Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, a lawyer for the National Security Council, has moved to the office of the Army general counsel.

What happened to the other impeachment witnesses? Many of them have already left the administration, including former National Security Council official Fiona Hill, former special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Marie Yovanovitch, who retired from the U.S. Foreign Service last month. George Kent and Jennifer Williams at the State Department, Laura Cooper at the Defense Department, and David Holmes at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine remain in their positions.

Democrats called the dismissals a “Friday night massacre.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would send letters to 74 independent watchdogs of administration departments, including Defense, asking them to investigate whistleblower retaliation.

Dig deeper: Read my reports in The Sift about the testimony from Sondland and Vindman.