According to him, General Mark Milley lives in an entrenched camp. This former chief of staff of the Armed Forces, appointed by President Trump in 2019, fortified his home against a possible attack by installing bulletproof windows and curtains designed to block an explosion. Since retiring last year, he has received “a non-stop barrage of death threats”, which he attributes to Donald Trump’s violent attacks against him, he testifies in the latest book by Bob Woodward, the illustrious journalist of the Washington Post. Hence the security measures. And the Republican’s re-election worries him a lot. He fears that once in power, Trump will retaliate by court-martialing him for “disloyalty.”
The two men maintained a tense relationship during the little more than a year of their coexistence. In recent months, alarmed by the growing instability of the American president, General Milley called his Chinese counterpart twice to reassure him and promise that the United States would not declare war on Beijing. Donald Trump, furious, accused him of having exceeded his authority even though the phone calls had been coordinated by the Minister of Defense. He called his act “treason” and suggested he deserved the firing squad. This discussion is “so scandalous”, he wrote on his social network “that, in time, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Relations have further deteriorated since the publication of Bob Woodward’s book in which Milley calls the former president a “total fascist”, “the most dangerous person for this country”.
He is not the only one to fear reprisals from the future administration. And their anxiety is legitimate. Donald Trump has continued to proclaim for years that he was going to take revenge on “his enemies” – political adversaries, media, Republican critics… After being found guilty during his trial in New York in May, he said: “Sometimes revenge can be justified.” The list of his pet peeves is very long. He threatened to launch lawsuits against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Democratic leaders, Barack Obama, FBI agents, and of course the prosecutors and judges involved in his various trials.
Defenders of the future occupant of the Oval Office assure that these attacks are only a figure of speech to mobilize his supporters. But Mark Milley and the other victims of his wrath are skeptical. Once in power, Donald Trump will have virtually carte blanche since the Supreme Court granted him broad immunity from prosecution for acts performed in the exercise of his functions. Furthermore, being limited to one mandate, he will not have to worry about public reactions. And judging by the individuals he has appointed to his government so far, few will oppose his vendetta.
Several retaliation tools
“There is no equivalent in American history,” said Stephen Gillers, professor of law at New York University. “Presidents so far, with the possible exception of Richard Nixon, have respected the independence of the Department of Justice and did not seek to influence its decisions. Trump’s goal is to neutralize him in order to act as he pleases. And he won’t need to put his opponents in prison. “A president has all kinds of ways to make their lives miserable without them having much recourse,” continues Stephen Gillers. He can initiate investigations and prosecutions through Congress or the Department of Justice without even going to trial. The longer they drag on, the more stressful and costly it is in terms of lawyer fees. There are also more discreet reprisals. He can transfer civil servants to the depths of Montana, cut off their funding or encourage the IRS, the American tax authorities, to give them a financial audit. James Comey, the former head of the FBI, sworn enemy of Donald Trump, paid the price. Ultimately, the IRS determined that it was the state that owed them money!
Even if they didn’t do anything illegal, many former members of the administration admit to being “scared.” Some are thinking of going abroad temporarily, some are applying for citizenship in another country and examining the possibility of transferring funds to non-American banks. All are putting money aside to pay for future legal battles. They also consult specialist lawyers such as Mark Zaid. Nobody knows if the next head of state will really launch reprisals but it is better to be ready, he explains in an interview with the magazine Politico. He recommended that a small group of people likely to be arrested “take a vacation abroad around the time of the inauguration just to see what happens.” For many other cases, “there is not much to do preventively”.
Olivia Troye, Vice President Mike Pence’s security adviser who became a Kamala Harris supporter, told the New York Times that she was considering emigrating to another country. She not only fears prosecution and the loss of her husband’s job, but above all she worries about her safety. She is afraid of being the target of violent Trumpists and has suspended for the moment, she says, her plans to adopt a child. “We are preparing for the worst scenario,” she says. In an interview with another media outlet, Stephanie Grisham, former White House spokesperson under Trump and author of a book critical of her former boss, admits she is also studying a move to a country without an extradition treaty. “It’s terrifying,” she admits, explaining that she’s “saving up” to fund potential lawyer bills.
The witch hunt
The witch hunt is already brewing at the Pentagon. Donald Trump, who has constantly quarreled with his generals determined to slow him down, wants to clean house. His teams created a list of officers involved in the calamitous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan with the aim of court-martialing them. According to the Wall Street Journalthey are also preparing the creation of a “warrior council” made up of retired soldiers responsible for establishing a list of generals lacking “the qualities required to command”. The future president promised to dismiss the “woke” high-ranking officers, who for example promoted more diverse recruitment. Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force officer and military justice specialist at Southwestern Law School, believes it is “unlikely” that General Milley or others will be court-martialed. However, she is worried about the evaluation commissions. “I have nothing against the idea of some sort of board to assess the suitability of generals. Some have made terrible mistakes and still been promoted.” But she adds, “the evaluation criteria must be fair and transparent. But it seems that this will be based more on a pure test of loyalty.” The “chilling” effect of these rumors has already been felt, she continues. “Everyone got the message: never say no to Donald Trump.”
This is not the first time that the future president has spoken of revenge. In 2016, he spent his time attacking Hillary Clinton, “the scoundrel”, with the slogan taken up at meetings by his supporters: “Let’s put her in jail”. Once in power, he did not carry out his threats. But he pushed for federal investigations against FBI agents handling the Russian election interference case and against John Kerry. He accused Obama’s former secretary of state of violating the law because he remained in contact with Iranian diplomats as the White House withdrew from the nuclear deal. He also demanded that a retired admiral and general, authors of two very critical articles on his presidency, be recalled to the flag and court-martialed. His advisors managed to dissuade him. Fearing this time that he will no longer have safeguards, some are calling on Joe Biden to preemptively pardon the “enemies” most at risk before his departure. Donald Trump did it in 2020 for Steve Bannon, his former adviser, whose trial for financial fraud had not yet taken place. A useful protection which will not, however, prevent civil suits or an IRS audit.
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