The Pentagon has confirmed that the new US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is revoking the security clearance and personal security detail for Mark Milley – the retired decorated army general and former chair of the joint chiefs of staff who served under Donald Trump’s first presidency and went on to criticise him.
Hegseth also directed the defence department’s inspectorate general to determine whether it is appropriate to reopen an assessment of Milley’s military grade, the Pentagon said late on Tuesday.
Joe Kasper, sworn in under Trump as defense department chief of staff, said in a statement: “Undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security.”
The news was first reported by Fox News on Tuesday. Representatives for Milley could not be immediately reached.
Milley was among those to whom Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons on 20 January, his last day in office, in case Trump tried to take revenge on them.
Milley called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump’s conduct around the Capitol insurrection.
Milley has said he was grateful for the pardon by Biden, who said Milley and others “do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions”.
Donald Trump had once suggested Milley should be executed for holding back-channel talks with China. Milley’s photo was removed from the Pentagon shortly after Trump was sworn into office.
The second and last portrait of Milley would also be removed from the Pentagon, Fox News reported.
Article by:Source: Guardian staff and agencies
