{"id":17960,"date":"2019-11-13T02:09:45","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T02:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:43:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:43:40","slug":"pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper was asked about potential retribution for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/10\/29\/purple-heart-ranger-tab-fao-meet-the-army-officer-testifying-about-trumps-ukraine-call\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman<\/a> during a trip to New York City. The defense secretary said the Pentagon \u201chas protections for whistleblowers\u201d who report waste, fraud or abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said Vindman or any other whistleblower \u201cshouldn\u2019t have any fear of retaliation,\u201d according to a transcript of the exchange released by online publication Defense One. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/10\/31\/how-the-army-officer-who-testified-against-trump-could-end-up-in-a-court-martial\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vindman-testimony-5.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">How the Army officer who testified against Trump could end up in a court-martial<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A military law expert weighs in on whether Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman could face charges for disobeying the president.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vindman is the Ukraine specialist at the White House\u2019s National Security Council who was on the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2019\/11\/09\/no-ambiguity-takeaways-from-ukraine-transcripts\/\" target=_blank>Vindman testified about concerns that Trump <\/a>was delaying military aid to the Eastern European country while pressing the country to investigate his political rivals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That phone call, and Trump\u2019s request for a \u201cfavor\u201d from Ukraine are the basis of the impeachment inquiry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Defense One transcript, Esper was asked what he would tell service members who might wonder if Vindman\u2019s career is in jeopardy and whether their own careers would be at risk if they blew the whistle on waste, fraud or abuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper responded by saying the Pentagon \u201chas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/30\/army-must-protect-officer-who-testified-against-trump-senator-warns\/\" target=_blank>protections for whistleblowers <\/a>\u2014 they\u2019re guaranteed in law. And he shouldn\u2019t have any fear of retaliation. That\u2019s DoD\u2019s position,\u201d referring to the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1344],"class_list":["post-17960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JZQMZFPZQBCWVEAEU7BNLJOI4U","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 251,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry - Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/13\\\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon-congress\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Air Force TImes\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry - Air Force TImes","description":"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry","og_description":"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","og_site_name":"Air Force TImes","article_published_time":"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00","author":"The Associated Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Associated Press","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry","datePublished":"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/"},"wordCount":251,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","News","Newsletters","Pentagon &amp; Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/","name":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry - Air Force TImes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-13T02:09:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T01:43:40+00:00","description":"Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that an Army officer has no reason to fear retribution for testifying before Congress in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/13\/pentagon-chief-says-vindman-should-not-fear-army-retaliation-in-trump-inquiry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon &amp; Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/","ad_zone":"pentagon-congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pentagon chief says Vindman should not fear Army retaliation in Trump inquiry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","name":"Air Force TImes","description":"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization","name":"Air Force TImes","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","caption":"Air Force TImes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19311845587600.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Air Force TImes","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89138,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17960\/revisions\/89138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17960"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}