THE PRESIDENT THREW US UNDER THE BUS": EMBEDDING WITH PENTAGON LEADERSHIP IN TRUMP'S CHAOTIC LAST WE
Last edited Mon Jan 25, 2021, 07:28 AM - Edit history (1)
Throughout the final, frenzied days of the Trump administration, a reporter rode shotgun with the outgoing acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, the man who, under the distracted eye of his commander in chief, became Americas de facto guardian.
BY ADAM CIRALSKY
JANUARY 22, 2021
In the hours before Donald Trumps last flight aboard Air Force Oneand Joe Bidens inauguration on the steps of the reclaimed and restored Capitolmany Americans and TV anchors wondered what the hell the 45th president and his inner circle had been doing, or undoing, in his waning days. Until Biden took the oath of office, the country had held its collective breath. Trump, in those final weeks in office, hadnt simply dented the guardrails of governance. Hed demolished them. In order to watch things up close, I sought and secured a front-row seat to what was happening inside the Department of Defense, the only institution with the reach and the tools2.1 million troops and weapons of every shape and sizeto counter any moves to forestall or reverse the democratic process. I came away both relieved and deeply concerned by what I witnessed.
On the evening of January 5the night before a white supremacist mob stormed Capitol Hill in a siege that would leave five deadthe acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, was at the White House with his chief of staff, Kash Patel. They were meeting with President Trump on an Iran issue, Miller told me. But then the conversation switched gears. The president, Miller recalled, asked how many troops the Pentagon planned to turn out the following day. Were like, Were going to provide any National Guard support that the District requests, Miller responded. And [Trump] goes, Youre going to need 10,000 people. No, Im not talking bullshit. He said that. And were like, Maybe. But you know, someones going to have to ask for it. At that point Miller remembered the president telling him, You do what you need to do. You do what you need to do. He said, Youre going to need 10,000. Thats what he said. Swear to God.
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Continuous, real-time access to a Trump cabinet memberespecially during that tumultuous periodwas rare. But on January 4, two days before the bloody assault on the U.S. Capitol, I made an overture to Pentagon officials. Could I spend the remaining days of the Trump administration embedded with Miller? I also requested face time with his two closest aides, who were known throughout Washington as staunch Trump loyalists, highly critical of the so-called deep state: Kashyap Kash Patel, Millers 40-year-old chief of staff, whod been an aide to Congressman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), another Trump acolyte, and Ezra Cohen, 34, the under secretary of defense for intelligence (USDI), who came aboard on National Security Adviser Mike Flynns watch and was later fired by NSC chief H.R. McMaster
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https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/embedding-with-pentagon-leadership-in-trumps-chaotic-last-week
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,986 posts)This works:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/embedding-with-pentagon-leadership-in-trumps-chaotic-last-week
Trim links by cutting back at ampersands and question marks. In this case, everything after the first question mark is unnecessary.
Also, trim Google links at the front. Google does not need to connect a whole bunch of dots when users post links that send clicks through Google before Google passes it on to the true destination. Often there is actually a second embedded link after the "amp" Google link. You can usually trim off the front up to the second https.
Sedona
(3,769 posts)Thank you
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,986 posts)When did Miller make that statement to the reporter? Evening on 5th? Morning of 6th? Or after the Insurrection riot was over and the full dimensions began to emerge?