Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth will “immediately” pull retired Gen. Mark Milley’s security detail and revoke his security clearance, according to a new Fox News report.
Those plans — the latest act of political retribution against those deemed enemies of President Donald Trump — will include an inspector general inquiry into Milley’s work. The Washington Post added that probe stems from a desire to “take a star” from Milley, meaning he would be demoted in retirement.
“The ghost of General Milley shouldn’t haunt the Pentagon anymore, nor should it haunt the armed forces,” an unnamed senior defense official told the Post. “This is all about accountability for General Milley.”
Milley has had security protection since Iran vowed retribution after the U.S. assassinated one of the country’s top generals, Qassem Soleimani, during Trump’s first term.
Fox News added that the Pentagon will soon remove a second portrait of Milley from inside the building as soon as Tuesday night. Another portrait was removed last week within hours of Trump’s inauguration.
Milley was one of several targets of Trump’s frustration to receive a preemptive pardon from Biden in his final hours in office.
Hegseth was confirmed to lead the Department of Defense last week despite a fierce campaign from Democrats who pointed to his inexperience as well as multiple allegations of alcohol and domestic abuse. The former Fox News personality has called for the firing of so-called “woke” military leaders and the removal of women from combat roles.
Milley, who served a four-year term as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Trump and former President Joe Biden, has been a vocal critic of the current president and called him a “total fascist” in a recent book by journalist Bob Woodward. Trump in turn has directed his ire at the retired general, suggesting at one point he be put to death after The Atlantic published an interview about Milley’s attempts to protect the nation from some of Trump’s impulses.
“No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” Milley told Woodward in the book, published at the end of last year. “Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”
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Trump and his aides have already stripped security protections for others who worked under his first administration, including former national security adviser John Bolton and Dr. Anthony Fauci.