ARLINGTON, Va. — Trump whistleblower and Virginia congressional candidate Eugene Vindman refuses to answer questions about his business dealings in Ukraine, which started after he took more than a dozen taxpayer-funded trips to the war-torn nation.
Vindman tried to sell the Ukrainian government a weapons system as president of Trident Support LLC, a firm he formed in August 2022 with his identical-twin brother, Alexander — who became famous testifying in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment inquiry.
The Vindman campaign would not respond to The Post’s requests for comment about the candidate’s reported income from the enterprise and whether the firm will continue doing business in or related to Ukraine if he’s elected to Congress next month.
Vindman boasted of the venture to the Prince William Times in December as he announced his run for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District, which is just outside the Washington, DC, Beltway. Trident’s purpose is to bring Ukraine technology to aid the country as it continues to fight a Russian invasion.
He told the paper he’d made 14 trips to the Eastern European nation to investigate war crimes through the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, a State Department-funded initiative to assist Ukraine’s prosecutor general in litigating international cases.
Trident is registered in Dumfries, Va., and uses the same PO box as Vindman’s congressional campaign, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission records show.
Vindman’s campaign website makes no mention of Trident, though he’s discussed the business in the press.
The same month they founded the firm, the Vindman brothers pitched the Ukrainian government on purchasing a weapons system, per a slide deck leaked to conservative news site Human Events, which it published last year.
The deck lists Alexander as CEO and Eugene as president — under the now-candidate’s birth name, Yevgeny.
Alexander Vindman seemingly confirmed the deck’s legitimacy in since-deleted tweets in which he sarcastically thanked Human Events for spreading the word about the efforts.
“Thanks for the advert. I’m trying to get logistics in place to help Ukraine win the war and secure America,” he said.
The Vindman brothers flexed their influence to set up an August 2023 meeting at the Biden White House, whose visitor logs show the pair met with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
In financial disclosures to the House of Representatives clerk, Eugene Vindman notes earning $125,000 from Trident in the first two months of 2024 after reportedly not drawing a salary in all of 2023.
The disclosure shows his income totaling about a quarter-million dollars from various sources in the first two months of 2024 — nearly double his 2023 earnings.
“This is why Virginians can’t trust Yevgeny Vindman: He’s not being transparent with voters. Vindman should tell voters how he makes money and let voters decide whether making money off the war in Ukraine is the type of person they want in office,” Delanie Bomar, National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman, told The Post.
The Vindman brothers gained national attention in 2019 as whistleblowers in the first impeachment attempt against the former president, which was sparked by the Ukrainian-born candidate reporting the content of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. His brother testified before Congress about the leaders’ exchange.
Both Vindman brothers appear to be profiting off their post-Trump-impeachment fame. Property records show Alexander bought a $1.9 million property in Florida in April 2023, just eight months after forming their business.
The brothers’ working relationship came under scrutiny this year when press requests to the campaign about Eugene’s military record were referred to VoteVets, a political-advocacy group Alexander runs.
Despite his national name recognition, Vindman has been running an under-the-radar campaign. He’s participated in one debate but declined to join two planned televised debates with his Republican opponent, Derrick Anderson.
Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up, which it shifted from lean Democrat this month.
