President Donald Trump late Friday afternoon and evening ended the week by firing three administration and White House officials, he blames for his impeachment in a campaign of retribution that some experts are calling illegal.
Trump not only had Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman transferred out of the White House, he had him fired from his National Security Post and escorted out of the building. Vindman’s twin brother, who also works on the NSC, was summarily fired and escorted out as well, as The New York Times reports.
If that weren’t enough Trump then turned around and had his Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, fired as well.
Both Vindman and Sondland had testified before Congress, proving the whistleblower’s claims that the president engaged in disturbing behavior by extorting Ukraine. The General Accounting Office substantiated that claim, stating that Trump’s withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid was illegal.
The hashtag #FridayNightMasacre is trending on Twitter right now.
CNN Legal Analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig says Trump’s actions today are “criminal.”
I’m sounding this bell now. It is disgraceful and criminal to demote / fire witnesses – as we are seeing with Vindman, his brother, Sondland. But this could get even worse – including bogus criminal charges against perceived Trump enemies in FBI and elsewhere. Watch for this. — Elie Honig (@eliehonig) February 8, 2020
Calling it a “Friday Night Massacre,” professor of international relations and visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, journalist, and CEO of The Rothkopf Group, David Rothkopf also says Trump’s actions today are criminal.
Friday night massacre. Don't lose sight of the fact that this wave of retribution is a crime. https://t.co/u8DhWRUCJb — David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) February 7, 2020
MSNBC Political Analyst and Senior Director of Progressive Programming for SiriusXM Radio, Zerlina Maxwell suggested the same label:
So did resistance organization Indivisible’s Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Ezra Levin:
The Friday Night Massacre continues. First Vindman. Now Sondland. Who's next? https://t.co/9q4ZonG1lV — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 7, 2020
hugehangingballs on February 9th, 2020 at 09:12 UTC »
They should try impeaching him.
Feierskov on February 9th, 2020 at 06:59 UTC »
Didn't like half the Republican senators justify their vote saying things like "well, I think he has learned his lesson and he wouldn't do anything like it in the future".
Who votes for these people.
moviefreaks on February 9th, 2020 at 05:56 UTC »
Between now and the time he leaves office, he’s gonna do whatever the fuck he wants.