Graham backs Vindman firing: ‘People in his chain of command have been suspicious of him regarding his political point of view’

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) defended the firing of National Security Council (NSC) Ukraine expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, suggesting he may have been involved in leaking information to the whistleblower whose complaint prompted President Trump’s impeachment.

“I think his reassignment was justified, I don’t think he could be effective at the NSC,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.  “What have I learned in the last two years? CIA agents, Justice Department lawyers, FBI agents have a political agenda and they acted on it, as did Col. Vindman.”

“He was not allowed to be asked questions about his connections to the alleged whistleblower,” Graham added, with host Margaret Brennan pointing out that Vindman was asked and denied any such connections.

Graham also said people in Vindman’s “chain of command have been suspicious of him regarding his political point of view.”

Brennan countered that White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien recently said he was satisfied there were no leaks within the NSC.

“Well, I am not,” Graham responded, saying he appreciated Vindman’s service, but comparing him to the intelligence officials who “took the law into their own hands.”

“I don’t know what role he played with the whistleblower, if any, but we’re going to look,” Graham continued.

Graham also defended the recall of Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland Friday, pointing out that ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president.

Both Vindman and Sondland testified in the impeachment proceedings against Trump.