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The former White House chief of staff, John Kelly has defended Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Point to be noted that Vindman was testified against the U.S President in the impeachment inquiry. Kelly described Trump’s request of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as an illegal order. He is a retired U.S Marine Corps General and first served as secretary of homeland security in the Trump administration before transitioning to serve as chief of staff from July 2017 to January 2019. Kelly’s remarks regarding Ukraine and Vindman came during a 75-minute Q&A at Drew University on Wednesday in New Jersey. Vindman served on the White House National Security Council. He was ousted from his role last Friday due to his testimony against Trump in the impeachment inquiry.

John Kelly defended Vindman and said, “He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave. He went and told his boss what he just heard”. Kelly made clear that he believed Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to announce an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden (Democratic presidential candidate) was inappropriate, in spite of the president repeatedly insisting that his actions were perfect. Kelly pointed out, “Through the Obama administration up until that phone call, the policy of the U.S was militarily to support Ukraine in their defensive fight against the Russians. And so, when the president said that continued support would be based on X, that essentially changed. And that’s what that guy was most interested in”. The retired general went on to say that Vindman had essentially heard an illegal order.

Kelly said, “We teach them, don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss”. The former White House chief of staff reportedly left his post on bad terms with the U.S President. Trump announced Kelly’s departure from the White House in December 2018. Kelly’s warning to Trump appears to have been accurate, as in December he became only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Democrats opened the impeachment inquiry in late September after an unidentified government whistleblower reported a July call between Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy. But Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate earlier this month.