7/15/2021 Joint Chiefs chairman Milley feared Trump coup over election loss

POLITICS

'Reichstag moment': Joint Chiefs

chairman feared Trump was laying
groundwork for coup
Matthew Brown USA TODAY
Published 8:21 a.m. ET Jul. 15, 2021 Updated 10:28 a.m. ET Jul. 15, 2021

Story Highlights
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, planned for an illegal power grab by Trump.

"This is a Reichstag moment," Milley said, referring to German parliament fire ahead of Nazi regime.

Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reveal this in "I Alone Can Fix It."

WASHINGTON – The highest-ranking U.S. officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
Mark Milley, and other top military leaders made informal plans to stop a coup by former
President Donald Trump and his allies in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election,
according to excerpts from a new book

"I Alone Can Fix It," written by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker,
describes how Milley and others feared Trump might take unconstitutional actions should he
lose. CNN first reported on this excerpt.

The top brass was so disturbed by Trump's rhetoric casting doubt on the legitimacy of the
election before it was held that the leaders discussed contingency plans for how to thwart any
illegal power grabs by the president, including how and when to resign in protest over his
actions.

"They may try, but they're not going to f****** succeed," Milley told his officers, according to
Leonnig and Rucker. "You can't do this without the military. You can't do this without the
CIA and the FBI. We're the guys with the guns."

Milley's spokesman, Army Col. Dave Butler, declined Thursday to comment on the excerpts.

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7/15/2021 Joint Chiefs chairman Milley feared Trump coup over election loss

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – an advisory body to the president – was planning
for a confrontation with Trump over what Milley saw as the former president's stoking of
tensions in an attempt to lay the groundwork for a coup.

In August: Top general says military will have no role in November's election

The alarm only increased after the election, when Trump and his allies contested the results
and called on his supporters to oppose the legitimacy of the electoral process, often implying
violence may be necessary.

"This is a Reichstag moment," Milley told his deputies in the days before Jan. 6, a reference
to the 1933 burning of the German parliament that helped usher in the Nazi regime in
Germany, Leonnig and Rucker write. "The gospel of the Führer."

In January: Nancy Pelosi seeks assurance from Pentagon about Trump's access to nuclear
codes

With speculation about a military coup swirling in the months before the election, top
military leaders took the unprecedented step in August 2020 of clarifying that the military
would have no role in the 2020 election, despite some speculation from Trump that military
action would be necessary.

“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military,” Milley wrote in August 2020,
responding to questions posed by two Democratic members of the House Armed Services
Committee. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts
and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military. I foresee no
role for the U.S armed forces in this process.”

The declarations came after Milley had spoken with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
and other Democrats, who had sought assurances the military would not intervene should
Trump call for unconstitutional orders to interfere with the election or attempt a coup.

Follow Matthew Brown online @mrbrownsir.

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