Trump wanted to court-martial the retired Navy SEAL who led the bin Laden raid for criticizing him:

[tblue37]

Trump wanted to court-martial the retired Navy SEAL who led the bin Laden raid for criticizing him, former defense chief says

Former President Donald Trump wanted to take the extraordinary step of reactivating retired US Navy Adm. William McRaven so that he could court-martial the former Navy SEAL commander for criticizing him, Trump's former Pentagon chief claims in his new book.

Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper writes that he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, had to talk then-President Trump out of a plan to recall both retired US Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal and McRaven to active duty as a way to open the two former senior military officers up to court-martial proceedings.

"Doing this 'will backfire on you, Mr. President,' we said," Esper wrote of a May 2020 meeting in his book, "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times," which is out today.

Trump told Esper and Milley that McRaven and McChrystal were "so disloyal" because of what he thought they were doing and had said about him. Esper writes that Trump "was spun up" by media stories in Breitbart claiming that McChrystal was advising Democrats on how to use artificial intelligence to "track down and counter Trump supporters."

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[SoonerPride]

1. More evidence that Esper failed the country

He should have reported this at the time

[Beaverhausen]

4. I actually liked his response to this criticism

He said that had he quit or made this news public, TFG would appoint some MAGA guy who would do his bidding.

[PatSeg]

10. Yes, I don't envy the position he was in

We know Trump would have put a super Trumper in that position who would do whatever Trump wanted. However, I do believe Esper could have released some of this information sooner.

[exboyfil]

2. This is not the proper response

This is prior restraint and itself a constitutional violation. Under threat of being reactivated, they have to limit their free speech rights. Sounds more like North Korea to me.


He backed off from his threats, Esper wrote, following a promise from Milley “that he would personally call the officers and ask them to dial it back.”

[tblue37]

3. Both said they got no such call from Milley.

[exboyfil]

7. Milley should have called the New York Times instead

Lying to the chief executive probably shouldn't have been one of the options. Should have said proceed ahead sir and issue the executive order.

Acutally I figure William McRaven would have loved a go at a court martial trying his statements when he was a private citizen. Now that would have been visibility.

[haele]

8. Of course not. He probably called them, but forgot why....

I have seen that happen before. They get to talking about the old days after opening pleasantries, then a great restaurant or book gets mentioned, then some more "have you ever had this happen?" talk over the strange things troops or other commanders do, then before you know it, Miley has a meeting and the call is over.
But it's been logged that he personally called them.

Haele

[dalton99a]

5. Michael Flynn is the one that should be recalled for court-martial

[Blue Owl]

6. How dare he not praise the all-knowing Emperor as he stares into the sun

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. This Admiral committed no crimes and so this would have been a failure

[Boomerproud]

11. "A Sacred ...What?" Unbelievable.