The letter – signed by Dick Cheney, James Mattis, Mark Esper, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Robert Gates, William Perry and Ashton Carter – amounts to a remarkable display of power against Trump’s attempt to undermine it just days before the Congress will count votes for the Electoral College.
“Our election has taken place. Surveys and audits have been done. The courts have addressed appropriate challenges. Governors have confirmed the results. And the Electoral College has voted. The time for questioning the results is over; the time for the formal counting of the results has passed. Electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statutes, have arrived, ‘the group wrote.
Yet a wide range of Republicans from Congress are sitting down with the president and plan to object to Biden’s victory at the election college on Wednesday – although their efforts will only delay the inevitable confirmation of Biden’s victory.
The former defense secretaries, who collectively represent decades in office, wrote that presidential transitions are an important part of the successful transfer of power.
“They often occur in times of international uncertainty over US national security policy and attitudes. This could be a moment when the country is vulnerable to action by opponents who want to take advantage of the situation.”
This is a striking story and will be updated.