National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — whose bombshell impeachment inquiry testimony revealed concerns about President Donald Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president — will be moved out of the National Security Council.
In an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation," O'Brien said Vindman's move back to the Department of Defense is not in retaliation for the testimony — it is "streamlining."
"We're streamlining the National Security Council," he said. "There are people that are detailed from different departments and agencies. My understanding is that Col. Vindman is detailed from the Department of Defense.
"So everyone who's detailed at the NSC, people are going to start going back to their own departments, and we'll bring in new folks."
"I never retaliated against anyone," O'Brien insisited.
"There will be a point for everybody . . . that their detail will come to an end. They'll go back to their agency."