Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who testified against President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial in 2019, said he will run for Senate in Florida as a Democrat.
Vindman, 50, is running for the seat left by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., a former state attorney general, was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Moody in a special election this November, which will decide who will serve the final two years of Rubio's term.
"They put Moody in the Senate to be a 'yes' vote for Trump and the billionaires. She's not Florida's senator. She's theirs," Vindman said in his campaign launch video.
Vindman touted his testimony in the video.
"The last time you saw me was here, swearing an oath to tell the truth about a president who broke his," Vindman said in the video. "See, my family came here as refugees to escape tyranny, and I sure as hell wasn't going to bow down to some wannabe tyrant."
Vindman was born in Soviet Ukraine to Jewish parents and immigrated to the United States at age 3. He served 21 years as an Army officer and served as Director of European Affairs for the National Security Council.
Vindman testified in 2019 that he witnessed Trump on a call pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. After the impeachment trial, Vindman and his twin brother retired Lt. Col. Yevgeny "Eugene" Vindman were removed from their jobs...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Support us by becoming a premium memb...