Tag: GOP complicit in Trump abuse of power

All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory

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Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld are the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense.

As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.

American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception.

Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived. Continue reading.

Trump unleashed: President moves with a free hand post-impeachment

The Hill logoPresident Trump is moving swiftly to clear his administration of perceived foes and fill it with loyalists, a sign he’s trying to consolidate power post-impeachment as he heads into the reelection fight.

Trump appears emboldened by his acquittal in the Republican-controlled Senate, ousting individuals from his White House and administration whom he believes crossed him during impeachment. This includes Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who the Army secretary said Friday, was not under investigation after Trump hinted he may face further disciplinary action after he was dismissed from his White House post and sent back to the Pentagon early.

While some Republicans hoped the president would be chastened by the impeachment proceedings, the opposite has proven true. Continue reading.

Impeachment witnesses ousted amid fears of Trump revenge campaign

The removal of Vindman and Sondland came after a promise of “payback” by White House officials.

The purge of impeachment witnesses has begun.

Within hours of each other, President Donald Trump and the White House removed two of the most crucial witnesses against the president in the investigation that led to his impeachment for abuse of power.

Late Friday, news emerged that Trump had ordered the recall of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union — “effective immediately,” the ambassador noted in a statement. Hours earlier, the White House escorted out Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine policy officer on the National Security Counsel — along with his twin brother Yevgeny, who was not an impeachment witness. Continue reading.

Conservative columnist: Trump supporters have ‘no one to blame but themselves’ for devastating consequences of Syria withdrawal

AlterNet logoSome Republicans who have been unwavering Trump supporters — from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina  to evangelist Pat Robertson — are making an exception when it comes to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, asserting that President Donald Trump has done the United States’ Kurdish allies a huge disservice. But Never Trump conservative and Washington Post opinion writer Max Boot, in his October 14 column, asserts those backers helped pave the way for the Syria debacle by constantly giving Trump a pass.

“The Republican members of Congress who are apoplectic — ‘shameful disaster unfolding in Syria,’ tweeted Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — have no one to blame but themselves,” Boot stresses. “They are the ones who continue to support a president who has been unabashed in his love of dictators, his disdain for human rights and his willingness to betray anyone or anything to advance his own interests.”

Since the withdrawal, Turkish troops under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have been entering northeastern Syria — raising fears that if Kurdish forces leave, they will no longer be guarding the captive ISIS terrorists being held in that area.

View the complete October 14 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.