My antennae went up when it was announced on Nov. 11, a week after the election, that Trump was firing Sec of Defense Mark Esper and replacing him, and several other top Defense officials, with lickspittles like Christopher Miller. What on earth for, with only a month snd a few days left in office?
The only explanation that makes sense is that
Trump was already thinking of using the military in some way as part of his coup. Clearly Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, was worried about that.
This hasn’t received enough attention, although Josh just mentioned it:
“But here’s another point. It wasn’t only at DOJ. There was something very similar happening at the Pentagon. Those new appointees don’t seem to have played direct roles in the coup as it played, though I think that’s still an open question. But it sure seemed like they might at the time. At the end of the day coups almost always come down to control of the armed forces.”
Trump was prepared to marshal the entire power of the Federal government, including the armed services, in support of his effort to wreck the constitutional order and reverse the returns of an election he lost.
