All Portraits Removed from Department of Defense Building
President Biden Issued Preemptive Pardon
The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to revoke the security clearance and personal protection of former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who had clashed with former U.S. President Donald Trump, while also considering demotion.
According to major foreign media including The New York Times (NYT) on the 28th (local time), a spokesperson for the Department of Defense stated in a press release that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Department of Defense Inspector General to investigate former Chairman Milley.
Secretary Hegseth instructed the Inspector General to review whether it is appropriate to reassess Milley’s rank, which foreign media reported implies the possibility of demotion.
Prior to the Department of Defense statement, Fox News reported citing multiple senior officials that Secretary Hegseth would announce the "immediate revocation" of Milley’s personal security detail and security clearance.
Officials told Fox News that Secretary Hegseth directed the acting Inspector General to form an oversight committee to examine whether Milley, who "weakened the chain of command" during Trump’s first term, can be stripped of his stars. Milley retired as a four-star general.
The Department of Defense holds the position that Milley "weakened the chain of command." In a statement, DoD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper said, "Weakening the chain of command erodes national security." Additionally, Fox News reported that the Department of Defense plans to completely remove Milley’s portraits from DoD buildings.
Of the two portraits of General Milley that were in the Department of Defense building, the first was removed on the 20th, immediately after President Trump’s inauguration, and the remaining one in the third-floor "Marshall Corridor" is also scheduled to be removed that night.
Former Chairman Milley was appointed as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman in 2019 during Trump’s first term and continued his tenure into the Biden administration. He led Western military support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022 and retired in September 2023. Although appointed by President Trump, Milley clashed with him toward the end of Trump’s first term.
He became controversial after it was revealed that he secretly communicated twice with Chinese officials without President Trump’s knowledge during the late Trump administration, including immediately after the January 6 Capitol riot, when Trump supporters denied the 2020 election results and stormed the Capitol. Former President Trump wrote on his social media that "such terrible acts would have been punishable by death in the old days."
According to Bob Woodward, a Washington Post (WP) journalist, in his book Peril, Milley’s calls with China were intended to reassure Chinese concerns about the unstable situation immediately after the 2020 election and the possibility that Trump might start a war with China.
Former President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Milley shortly before leaving office amid concerns that Trump would pursue "retaliatory prosecution" against Milley after taking office.
Because Milley was pardoned, he cannot be brought before a military court. However, foreign media explained that demotion measures could still be taken. Several senior officials from Trump’s first term, including Milley, reportedly received personal security due to threats following the U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, in 2020.
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