Wife of impeachment witness targeted by Trump hits out at president in new attack ad
‘The most powerful man in the world came after our family’
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Your support makes all the difference.The wife of a veteran who was targeted by president Donald Trump after raising concerns over the phone call that saw him impeached has spoken out against the president in a new attack ad by the Lincoln Project.
Rachel Vindman, the wife of key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman, hit out against the president in the clip released by the Republican Political Action Committee (POC) on Friday, saying that she felt “threatened” after her husband's testimony.
The advert plays clips of both White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Mr Trump dismissing Lt Col Vindman, including a clip of the president saying: “Well I’m not happy with him. Well you’ll see, we’ll see what happens.”
“The most powerful man in the world came after our family,” Ms Vindman says. “But what happened to us can happen to anyone.”
“America is so much better than Donald Trump, but he can cost this nation so much more with four years,” she concludes.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment regarding the advert.
Lt Col Vindman said that he experienced retaliation from Donald Trump and the White House after he testified before Congress during the president’s impeachment hearings.
In July, his attorney, David Pressman, said Lt Col Vindman had been the victim of a "campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation" following his impeachment testimony, led by Mr Trump.
Lt Col Vindman’s testimony became key in the impeachment inquiry, where he testified about a phone call between Mr Trump and Ukraine‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky in which the president pushed the country to investigate Joe Biden.
Mr Trump later fired the Ukraine expert from his position on the National Security Council. His twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, was also fired from his position at the NSC.
Lt Col Vindman also decided to resign from the Army because he believed that staying would result in more retaliation from the president and allies, but he stood by his testimony.
The new advert was produced in collaboration with VoteVets, which uses public issue campaigns to give a voice to veterans on matters of national security, veterans' care, and every day issues.
Other veterans who are against the president in this year's election have appeared in scathing attack ads against Mr Trump condemning his attitude towards the military.
An advert released by Republican Voters Against Trump in August compiles clips from a number of US veterans detailing why they refuse to vote for Mr Trump.
In the video, veterans berate the president, saying “he does not care about you, he does not care about this country” or the “constitution”.
VoteVets also published a video condemning the president in July by comparing the president to Benedict Arnold, who infamously defected from the US Continental Army to the British side in the Revolutionary War.
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