Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, has reportedly removed retired General Mark Milley from his security detail. He also ordered the Department of Defense IG to convene a panel to determine if there are grounds to reduce Milley’s rank due to actions that “undermined the chain of commands” during the first term of President Donald Trump.
Fox News reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to announce “immediately” the removal of retired Gen. Mark Milley’s personal security detail as well as his security clearance.
The secretary is also directing the new acting Inspector General to conduct a review board to determine if enough evidence exists for Gen. Milley to be stripped of a star in retirement based on his actions to “undermine the chain of command” during President Donald Trump’s first term, officials say.
A second portrait of Gen. Milley will be removed by the Pentagon. The portrait is located in the Army’s Marshall Corridor, on the third floor. It honors his service as Chief-of-Staff of the Army. Fox has been informed that the removal of the second portrait could happen as early as tonight. There will no longer be any portraits of Gen. Milley in the Pentagon.
Last week, on Inauguration day, less than two hours following the swearing-in of President Trump, the first portrait, which depicted Gen. Milley during his tenure as U.S. Military’s top commander, was removed.
Milley could be demoted to a three-star position based on how the IG and Hegseth view Milley’s actions: 1) call out the National Guard for the January 6 speech and the burning of parts of DC during the George Floyd Memorial riots, 2) calling Trump a “fascist in the core!” In an interview with Bob Woodward, while Trump was president. And 3) in the infamous incident when he warned his Chinese counterpart twice in the last months of Trump’s term that the U.S. Military had no plans to attack China to avoid tensions between nuclear-armed nations.
Joe Biden pardoned Milley during his final hours at the Oval Office, and possibly beyond. The pardon may give him immunity from prosecution but the decision to lower his rank is not legal, it’s an administrative one.
