EXCLUSIVE — Virginia Republican Derrick Anderson is blasting his Democratic challenger, retired Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, for inflating his military record in a new television advertisement releasing Wednesday morning.
In the ad titled “Valor” and shared first with the Washington Examiner ahead of its release, Anderson reflects on his career as a Green Beret, accusing Vindman of lying about being a retired colonel and his time in combat “to advance his political career.”
“That cuts against every value our military teaches,” Anderson says in the ad. “It’s indefensible. We need leaders in Washington who shoot straight and always put our country first. That’s the kind of Congressman I’ll be.”
Anderson and Vindman are running for the open seat left vacant by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). Spanberger announced last year she would forgo reelection to her House seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as “lean Democrat.”
Since June, the Anderson campaign and the National Republican Congressional Committee have targeted Vindman with accusations of “stolen valor” after some of Vindman’s campaign social media posts referred to him as a “retired Army colonel.”
Vindman and his brother, Alexander Vindman, are known for being the key whistleblowers that led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment over a phone call between the former president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Democratic House candidate was promoted to colonel in 2021 but needed to serve three years to retire in that role, and he was fired from his post at the National Security Council by Trump before that time frame was complete, meaning he left the army with a “lieutenant colonel” ranking.
“Derrick is lying about Eugene’s service record just like he’s lying about his fake family,” the Vindman campaign said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “It’s disgusting. Eugene served in the Army for 25 years, was promoted to Colonel, and served in a combat zone in Iraq. This is a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues of Project 2025 and abortion rights in this race.”
The Vindman campaign’s “fake family” allegation refers to a photo posted by the New York Times of Anderson standing to a woman and her three daughters. Anderson’s campaign told the Associated Press last week that the Republican never claimed the women in the photo were his family, and that Anderson has often posted photos with his actual family.
In an interview with CNN last week, Vindman said “people that have served more than a day know that you’re referred to as ‘colonel,’ lieutenant colonel, colonel.”
“I’m proud of my service, I put my service up against anybody,” Vindman said. “…I’m not misrepresenting myself.”
The two candidates debated last week, with Anderson accusing Vindman of focusing on the past and launching a “revenge tour” for Trump firing him. Vindman attempted to tie Anderson to Project 2025, a conservative policy platform that many Republicans, including Trump, have tried to distance themselves from as polling shows a majority of Americans are against the blueprint.
Ahead of the debate, Anderson called on Vindman to release his DD-214, a document detailing his military service.
“You try to distinguish between us and the differences?” Anderson said during the debate in response to Vindman’s claim that he has the experience and knowledge over the Republican. “I’ll tell you the differences: I’m telling the truth about my service and what I’ve done. My opponent is lying.”
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“Stolen valor” has become a flashpoint for Republicans in the 2024 cycle, particularly with Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years but never saw combat — a fact the GOP has narrowed in on, accusing the Harris campaign of misrepresenting Walz’s service in ads.
As of June 30, Vindman has held the fundraising edge with $2.28 million in the bank. Anderson’s campaign noted $460,000, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC have dumped significant funds into the race, spending $1.8 million on Anderson and $2.57 million on Vindman, respectively.