OAN Staff James Meyers
2:58 PM – Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pulling the security protections and clearance of retired Joint Chiefs chairman General Mark Milley.
The new defense secretary is also tasking 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.
The inspector general review will include “an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Gen. Milley’s conduct so that the Secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination,” Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said.
“The secretary informed Gen. Milley today that he is revoking the authorization for his security detail and suspending his security clearance as well,” he said.
Milley is known for serving as chairman during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. The relationship started out strong. However, it worsened over time as Milley tried to advise Trump on multiple issues.
He’s known for pushing back on the president’s interest in using force domestically to stop protestors after the death of George Floyd, and was at the center of a controversy in 2021 when he made independent calls to his Chinese counterpart. At the time, Trump said the calls were an act of treason, but Milley claimed the calls were routine and part of his responsibilities.
During his final days as chairman, after Trump had left office, he was outspoken about his former boss. He said at his official retirement ceremony “we don’t take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.”
“We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it,” he said at the time.
According to Hegseth’s chief of staff Joe Kasper, the decision to strip Milley of his clearance and detail was taken because “undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security, and restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trump’s leadership.”
Additionally, other moves might include getting rid of Milley’s Army chief of staff portrait. Milley’s chairman portrait was stripped from the wall just hours after Trump was sworn in.
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