World News

Mark Milley loses security clearance amid Trump tensions

The United States has removed the personal security detail and security clearance for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley in a surprise move. A statement from the Pentagon, out Tuesday, revealed that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has initiated an investigation into actions taken by Milley, which recently came under attack by newly reinstated President Donald Trump.

Hegseth called upon the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General to probe whether a reappraisal of Milley’s military grade is warranted. The Pentagon emphasized a need to preserve and protect the integrity of military chain of command, with the words of the Chief of Staff in the Department of Defense, Joe Kasper: “Undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security.

Following Trump’s inauguration, Milley’s portrait was removed from the Pentagon and Fox News reports a second portrait is soon to follow. The tensions worsened earlier this month when Trump removed Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council amidst growing hostility between the two.

Milley had been in hot water since the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, when he called Beijing to reassure Chinese officials that the U.S. was stable. Trump later labelled the phone call “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been death.”

A former Trump appointee, Milley once called the former president “fascist to the core” in an interview with journalist Bob Woodward.

On his last day in office, President Joe Biden doled out a preemptive pardon to Milley, for which the former general was grateful. Biden said that Milley and the others “do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.” Others receiving such pardons included those close to Trump, former Republican law maker Liz Cheney, and former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci.

Source
Al Jazeera

HD News Desk

From local issues to national events and global affairs, Hindustan Dot's news desk covers the latest news and developments from India and the world.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button