United States President Donald Trump on Friday ousted two senior officials who had testified before the Congressional committee during his impeachment trial by the House of Representatives, reported BBC. Trump was acquitted by the Senate of all charges on Wednesday.

Both Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine expert on the National Security Council of the White House, were key witnesses during the impeachment hearings. “I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as [the] United States Ambassador to the European Union,” Sondland said in a statement on Friday. Vindman was “asked to leave for telling the truth”, said his attorney David Pressman. Vindman was escorted from the White House.

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The White House, however, did not comment on the dismissals.

Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, was also sent back to the Department of the Army. He was a senior lawyer for the National Security Council.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 52-48 to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress. Trump celebrated his acquittal from impeachment charges at the White House on Thursday along with his family, Republican Party members, and Cabinet colleagues.

“We went through hell, unfairly, did nothing wrong, did nothing wrong,” said Trump. “I’ve done things wrong in my life, I will admit. This is really not a news conference. It’s not a speech. It’s not anything. It’s just we’re sort of – it’s a celebration because we have something that just worked out. I mean it worked out.” Trump called Democratic Party politicians, who initiated the impeachment proceedings, “lousy”. “These people are vicious,” he said.

In December, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and for obstructing Congress, as he was formally accused of pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic Party leader Joe Biden – a leading contender for his party’s presidential nomination – while using as leverage a nearly $400-million package of military assistance.