In an op-ed that was published on Sunday, former secretaries of defense stood their ground. They stated that the time for questioning the results of the US Presidential election is already over, asserting that a peaceful transition of power should be allowed.
Ex-Defense Secretaries Call for Peaceful Transition of Presidency
All ten living former defense secretaries who hail from both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote that the elections are already over since all votes have been counted, recounted, audited, and that the courts have already addressed all challenges. Thus there is no need to question the results anymore.
Moreover, they stressed that it is already time to formally count the electoral college votes, as stated in the Constitution and statute.
The said op-ed was written in the form of a letter to President Donald Trump and was published in The Washington Post. It comes as Trump continues to refuse defeat against President-elect Joe Biden.
It also follows a controversial phone call that emerged on Saturday. Trump reportedly pressured Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State, to overturn his loss to Biden in the state by finding votes for him.
Defense's former Secretaries Dick Cheney, Ashton Carter, Robert Gates, William Cohen, Donald Rumsfeld, William Perry, Leon Panetta, and Chuck Hagel, signed the opinion piece as well.
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Individuals who also signed the said piece were two Pentagon heads who gave their service under the administration of Trump Mark Esper and Jim Mattis, NPR reported.
Trump removed the then Pentagon head Esper in November as part of a major shakeup at the Defense Department.
The op-ed came after many Republican lawmakers in Congress made a plan to formally object to the certification of the November 3 presidential election results this week.
According to USA Today, since the vote, Trump, together with his attorneys, has repeatedly asserted false claims of voter fraud. However, no evidence was presented that his loss to Biden was because of the claimed widespread irregularities.
Moreover, some critics stated that his insistence that the election was stolen could lead to their speculations that Trump could somehow use the military to remain in office past the January 20 inauguration of Biden.
The ten signatories made it clear that any effort to involve the United States' armed forces in resolving disputes about the election will bring the country into the unlawful, dangerous, and unconstitutional territory.
They also wrote that civilian and military officials who will carry out or direct such measures would be accountable, which includes potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on the country.
During the administration of Bill Clinton, the Defense Secretary, William Perry, also tweeted that the idea for the statement originated with Cheney, a Republican who served under President George H.W. Bush as secretary of defense and to former President George W. Bush as vice president.
Perry reiterated the op-ed's lines in his tweet, sharing that each of them swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, whether it is domestic or foreign. Still, they did not swear it to any individual or even a party.
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