Seven Days in January? All Living Former Secretaries of Defense Warn Trump Over Election Fight

[CaoLanh]

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By Kristinn Taylor
Published January 4, 2021 at 12:51am
2067 Comments


The ten surviving former U.S. secretaries of defense co-signed a Washington Post op-ed published Sunday that warns President Trump and his Defense Department appointees the election is over, the time for questioning the results has passed and they better not involve the military in the election fight. Those who signed include James Mattis and Mark Esper who both served as SecDef in the Trump administration.


The statement bears the names of: Ashton Carter (Obama), Dick Cheney (Bush 41), William Cohen (Clinton), Mark Esper (Trump), Robert Gates (Bush 43 and Obama), Chuck Hagel (Obama), James Mattis (Trump), Leon Panetta (Obama), William Perry (Clinton) and Donald Rumsfeld (Ford and Bush 43).


Washington Post excerpt:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...2ba_story.html


Politico excerpt:
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...lection-454334


This kind of scheming only happens in the movies, right?




Media figures stoked the fears online:

The end game is often the most dangerous. Former secretaries of defense firing a shot over the bow of a would-be dictator is a sign of the treacherous straits through which we are sailing.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) January 4, 2021


The fact that these 10 former Secretaries of Defense felt the need to unprecedentedly sign this letter should absolutely be a cause for alarm. https://t.co/XiatHeRAka

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 3, 2021


The very worrisome question is why all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense, including Trump officials Esper and Mattis, chose to speak out now. What is the scenario they are worried about?

— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) January 3, 2021


Wake up folks. When 10 former SecDefs, including Esper and Mattis, join up & warn of dangers of military intervention in elections, they smell something, they feel something, they are worried. People need to have courage of their convictions on this one https://t.co/fpDWeiqsTe

— Steve Clemons (@SCClemons) January 3, 2021

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