FOLLOWING ORDERS

John Kelly: Vindman Was Right to Report Trump’s ‘Illegal Order’ on Ukraine

The four-star general and former White House chief of staff said NSC Ukraine official “did exactly what we teach them to do.”

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has thrown his support behind Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s decision to report President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president, saying Vindman heard what was tantamount to an “illegal order” and had no choice but to tell his superiors. Vindman, the former National Security Council aide and star impeachment witness, was fired Friday (along with his twin brother) in what was widely interpreted as a punishment for speaking out against Trump’s actions. At a Drew University event Wednesday night, Kelly said Vindman is blameless and was only following the training he’d received as a soldier. “He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave,” Kelly said in a speech at the New Jersey college, according to The Atlantic. “He went and told his boss what he just heard.” Kelly went on: “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.”

Kelly also criticized Trump’s immigration policies, saying that those who come to the U.S. are “overwhelmingly good people” and “not all rapists.” And, in another apparent Trump jab, said: “If you only watch Fox News because it’s reinforcing what you believe, you are not an informed citizen.”