GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn questions patriotism of Purple Heart recipient Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 24 January 2020

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was engrossed in a book during Thursday's impeachment proceedings, but one thing managed to make her look up: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) referring to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, as an "American patriot."

"How patriotic is it to badmouth and ridicule our great nation in front of Russia, America's greatest enemy?" Blackburn tweeted. She did not give any examples of Vindman speaking ill of the United States in front of Russia.

Vindman, the director of European Affairs for the White House National Security Council, was on President Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and became concerned when he heard Trump request an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Vindman is also a veteran who served in the Iraq War, and received a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in an IED attack.

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Senators aren't supposed to be using electronics during the trial, but Blackburn tweeted throughout the afternoon and evening. Over multiple tweets, she accused Vindman of leaking sensitive material, being "vindictive," and wanting to "take Trump out." She appears to have a fixation with both Vindman and the idea of him being vindictive; in November, Blackburn tweeted, "Vindictive Vindman is the 'whistleblower's' handler." This remains her pinned tweet.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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