Last fall, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a member of the National Security Council staff, was a star witness against President Trump at House impeachment hearings. Since then, he has left public view, left the White House, and left the Army. Now, with an election approaching, he is launching what appears to be a media campaign to take shots at the president.

Vindman is making news by saying things like this: “President Trump should be considered to be a useful idiot and a fellow traveler, which makes him an unwitting agent of Putin.” Vindman said that in an interview with the Atlantic, which has become a much-read resistance clearinghouse.