A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a key witness in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, Breitbart reported.
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman filed the lawsuit in February, alleging witness intimidation by Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and two Trump White House staffers.
Vindman's lawsuit alleged that, following his subpoena to testify as part of the House investigation, Vindman became the target of "a dangerous campaign of witness intimidation by President Trump and a group of conspirators" to deter him from testifying.
The Hill reported among the defendants listed in the federal suit were Trump Jr., Giuliani, and Trump advisers Dan Scavino and Julia Hahn.
The 29-page ruling was issued by Judge James Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. He said Vindman's complaint failed to make an adequate showing the defendants conspired against him.
"Plaintiff's pled facts, taken as true, certainly suggest that Defendants leveled harsh, mean-spirited, and at times misleading attacks against him," Boasberg wrote, according to The Hill. "But political hackery alone does not violate (the law at issue)."
In 2019, Vindman testified about a phone call in which Trump was alleged to have offered a quid pro quo to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a phone call that led to Trump's impeachment. The alleged deal involved an exchange of U.S. military aid for an investigation into Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and his ties to Ukrainian businesses during the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Hunter Biden was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, that was under investigation at a time when Biden allegedly insisted Ukraine fire the head prosecutor.
Following the Senate's acquittal of Trump, Vindman was fired from his post at the White House National Security Council, and he retired from the military soon thereafter. He alleged he was a victim of "bullying" and "retaliation" by the Trump White House, which he blamed for ending his military career.
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