Milley Confirms Pelosi Conversation, Distances Pentagon From Talk of Disarming Trump

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Milley Confirms Pelosi Conversation, Distances Pentagon From Talk of Disarming Trump
By: Paul D. Shinkman - Senior Writer - National Security - -108-21
Re: https://www.usnews.com/news/national...isarming-trump

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with the House speaker about her desire to limit an ‘unhinged’ Trump’s powers to declare nuclear war. (He's carrying the Football - in case you all forgot).

THE DEFENSE Department's top officer on Friday confirmed he had spoken with Nancy Pelosi about President Donald Trump's powers as commander in chief but in a carefully crafted statement distanced the Pentagon from any attempts by the House speaker or other congressional leaders to strip the president of his authorities.

"Speaker Pelosi initiated a call with the chairman," Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells U.S. News. "He answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority."

The statement follows a letter Pelosi sent to Democratic colleagues on Friday. She updated them about stunning events this week in the aftermath of the violent mob of President Donald Trump's supporters that swarmed the Capitol shortly after he finished a rally roughly a mile away near the White House. The protesters were attempting to prevent with force Congress' certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

In her letter, Pelosi documents a conversation she had with Milley earlier on Friday in a section titled, "Preventing an Unhinged President From Using the Nuclear Codes."

Pelosi wrote that she discussed with Milley "available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike."

"The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy," Pelosi wrote.

The dramatic language comes as Pelosi considers growing calls from Democrats and some Republicans for new articles of impeachment against Trump for his part in stirring up the mob that laid siege to the Capitol. At least five people died as a result of the violence and dozens were injured, including dozens of police officers.

Milley has wrought widespread condemnation previously for appearing to support Trump's politicization of the military, including accompanying the president to a photo op at St. John's Church near the White House last summer moments after police forcefully cleared the area of social justice protesters. Milley later apologized for his actions, saying his presence "created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics."

But Milley has also asserted the military's political neutrality in domestic affairs, pushing back on reports that speculated about a potential role in overturning or redoing last month's elections.

"We have established a very long 240-year tradition of an apolitical military that does not get involved in domestic politics," Milley told NPR in October. "We, the U.S. military, we are sworn to obey the lawful orders of our civilian leadership. ... And we want to ensure that there is always civilian leadership, civilian control of the military, and we will obey the lawful orders of civilian control of the military."

Pentagon staff members have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from perceptions of politicization in recent months, dramatically limiting public exposure of its top officials.

About this writer: Paul D. Shinkman, Senior Writer, National Security & Tags: Nancy Pelosi, military, nuclear weapons, Army

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Pelosi talked to top military officer about preventing "unhinged" Trump from launching nuclear strike
By: Jason Silverstein - CBS News - 01-08-21
Re: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pelosi-...uclear-strike/

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she spoke with the nation's top military officers about preventing President Trump from launching a military attack or nuclear strike in his final days in office. The conversation came as Pelosi leads an effort to remove Mr. Trump from office less than two weeks before the end of his term.

"This morning, I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike," Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats.

"The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy."

A spokesman for Milley, Army Col. Dave Butler, said in a brief statement: "Speaker Pelosi initiated a call with the Chairman. He answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority."

The president of the United States has sole authority to order a nuclear strike, and the decision does not have to be approved by Congress or the military. But military leaders have previously stated they understand their responsibility to not carry out illegal orders. The nuclear football — a suitcase with communication tools and plans for using nuclear codes — is carried by a military aide near the president at all times.

The former top commander of U.S. nuclear forces under President Trump said in 2017 that he would push back on an illegal nuclear strike.

"I provide advice to the president," Air Force General John E. Hyten told the Halifax International Security Forum. "He'll tell me what to do, and if it's illegal, guess what is going to happen? I'm going to say, 'Mr. President, that's illegal.' And guess what he's going to do? He's going to say, 'What would be legal?'"

Hyten is now the vice chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, ranking directly under Milley.

Pelosi's letter also addresses the continued fallout from Wednesday's riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol, in which a Capitol Police officer and four other people died. The siege came after Mr. Trump held a rally nearby and told supporters to go to the Capitol as Congress counted the electoral votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Since then, lawmakers in both parties have spoken about Mr. Trump's removal, either through the 25th Amendment or another impeachment proceeding. Pelosi in her letter said she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had reached out to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday to discuss the 25th Amendment, although so far they have not spoken.

"We still hope to hear from him as soon as possible with a positive answer as to whether he and the Cabinet will honor their oath to the Constitution and the American people," Pelosi wrote.

The California Democrat also referenced how, at the end of Richard Nixon's presidency nearly 50 years ago, his fellow Republicans banded together and told him "it was time to go."

"Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office — immediately," Pelosi wrote. "If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action."

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Personal note: Scary isn't it!
but;
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Pelosi: The military can stop Trump nuclear launch
Re: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/live-up...nuclear-launch

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling fellow Democrats that the nation’s top military officer has told her there are steps in place that would prevent President Donald Trump from firing nuclear weapons.

Pelosi is holding a conference call with House Democrats about what they should do about Trump doing his waning days in office, including the possibility of impeachment. Democrats and many Republicans blame Trump for this week’s deadly assault on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, and many say they are worried that Trump might try something irrational.

Before Friday’s conference call, Pelosi told her colleagues that she had asked Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about preventing Trump from initiating a nuclear strike. A person familiar with Friday’s call says Pelosi has told them that Milley has told her there are precautions in place that would prevent such an action by Trump.

The president has sole authority in the U.S. government to order the launch of a nuclear weapon. But if a military commander were to determine, on advice of his lawyers, that such an order was illegal, then the order could be refused.

It would be illegal to launch a nuclear attack for no reason or as a disproportionate response to a military provocation.

The person described Friday’s conference call on condition of anonymity because the call was limited to House Democrats. The PBS NewsHour independently confirmed the call.

By: Alan Fram, of The Associated Press 01-08-21 (8-Min ago).

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