Hegseth yanks Gen. Milley’s security clearance and protection, removes 2 portraits, clears way for demotion

Accountability arrived at the Pentagon as the newly sworn-in defense secretary took a number of swamp-draining actions against retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley.

Fresh on the heels of President Donald Trump revoking security clearances of former intelligence officials as well as the security details of the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a splash Tuesday with his own strike against the establishment.

With his first week on the job underway, the cabinet official announced the revocation of Milley’s security detail and security clearance and cleared the way for a possible demotion over the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s actions to “undermine the chain of command,” according to Fox News.

It was also reported that, after a recently unveiled portrait of Milley had been taken down at the Pentagon, a second remaining portrait that honored the general for his service as the Army’s chief of staff had also been removed.

Fox News further detailed according to officials, “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.”

A senior administration official explained the moves, “There is a new era of accountability in the Defense Department under President Trump’s leadership–and that’s exactly what the American people expect.”

Infamously, Milley had admitted that during the transition between Trump’s first administration and the incoming Biden administration, he had informed his counterpart in China that he would warn the communist-led nation if the GOP leader intended to take military action against them while departing the White House.

As one of now-former President Joe Biden’s final acts in office, he delivered a blanket pardon to Milley, Fauci, and the January 6 committee, as well as members of his own family.

During his swearing-in ceremony, Hegseth made clear the change in priorities that were coming to Washington, D.C. as he said, “We will put America first. We will bring peace through strength. The three principles I talked about are what we will bring to the Pentagon. Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do. Rebuild our military and reestablish deterrents. We don’t want to fight wars, we want to deter them, and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we’re gonna bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.”

The secretary’s initial steps towards living that out were celebrated on social media, along with the humiliation it brought Milley, as some sought more and called for efforts to circumvent the pardon issued by Biden.

Kevin Haggerty

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