5/15/2023 0 Comments Martial law usa january 2021![]() Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said on MSNBC that Flynn was a "disgrace to his uniform." "The president has to plan for every eventuality because we cannot allow this election and the integrity of our election to go the way it is.'' Flynn's suggestion has been openly condemned by numerous retired officers. basically rerun an election," Flynn said. "He could take military capabilities and he could. General Michael Flynn, President Trump's first national security advisor and a recently pardoned felon, publicly broached the subject of martial law on the conservative channel Newsmax last week, saying that the president should use the military to seize voting boxes and "rerun" the election in certain states. In some ways the military has already gotten dragged into the issue. Violent actions by pro-Trump militia members could give Trump reason to invoke federal control. People gather in support of President Donald Trump and in protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election at freedom plaza on Decemin Washington, DC. "Though I'm confident that the uniformed military leadership has their heads screwed on right, the craziness is unprecedented and the possibilities are endless." The retired flag officer also requested anonymity because he is actively advising senior officers and is not authorized to speak on the record. "At this point there's no telling what the president might do in the next month," says a former Northern Command (NORTHCOM) commander, one who has been intimately involved in the development of domestic civil planning. They feared that publicly stated opposition to the president's scheme to undermine the election-whether that is to proclaim martial law, to seize voting machines, or even to halt Congress from ratifying state elector's results on January 6-could actually embolden Donald Trump to act. Similarly, officers who were willing to speak about the subject insisted on anonymity, fearful that use of their names might provoke the ire of the president. ![]() The White House then declined to comment. Yet while the Pentagon officially responded to Newsweek's queries with various quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of the election, it declined to address post-election crises or the discussions of martial law, referring questions to the White House. military in determining the outcome of an American election,” Army Chief of Staff General James McConville (left) and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy (right) say. "But martial law," says the lawyer, "is the wrong paradigm to think about the dangers ahead." Though such a presidential proclamation could flow from his order as commander-in-chief, an essential missing ingredient is the martial side: the involvement and connivance of some cabal of officers who would support the president's illegal move. "Right now, because of coronavirus," one retired judge advocate general says, "the president actually has unprecedented emergency powers, ones that might convince him-particularly if he listens to certain of his supporters-that he has unlimited powers and is above the law." He was granted anonymity in order to speak without fear of reprisal.Ī half-dozen officers in similar positions agree that while there is zero chance that the uniformed leadership would involve itself in any scheme to create an election-related reversal, they worry that the military could get sucked into a crisis of Trump's making, particularly if the president tries to rally private militias and pro-Trump paramilitaries in an effort to disrupt the transition and bring violence to the capital. "I've been associated with the military for over 40 years and I've never seen the discussions that are being had right now, the need for such discussions," says a retired flag officer, currently a defense contractor who has mentored and advised his service's senior leaders. According to one officer who spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity, the planning is being kept out of sight of the White House and Trump loyalists in the Pentagon for fear that it would be shut down. And military commands responsible for Washington DC are engaged in secret contingency planning in case the armed forces are called upon to maintain or restore civil order during the inauguration and transition period. Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law. Pentagon and Washington-area military leaders are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office.
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