Monday, November 23, 2020

Read It Yourself — GOP Administration Officials from 4 Decades Say Trump Must Move to the Exit

More than 100 former GOP administration national security officials from four decades say President Trump’s refusal to accept 2020 election result is dangerous and harmful. https://buff.ly/2IZ7O5k

Statement by Former National Security Officials  

November 23, 2020

We are former senior national security officials who served in Republican administrations under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump or as Republican Members of Congress. We believe that President Trump’s refusal to concede the election and allow for an orderly transition constitutes a serious threat to America’s democratic process and to our national security. We therefore call on Republican leaders – especially those in Congress – to publicly demand that President Trump cease his anti-democratic assault on the integrity of the presidential election. 

It has been clear for over two weeks that Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election, garnering 306 electoral votes, far more than the 270 electoral votes required to be elected. 

Despite this clear outcome, President Trump has refused to accept the results and begin the transition process. While the President is legally entitled to request recounts and file good-faith legal challenges, he has presented no evidence of widespread fraud or any other significant irregularities. Nearly every case filed by the President’s team across multiple states has been summarily dismissed. 

President Trump’s continued efforts to cast doubt on the validity of the election and to interfere in state electoral processes undermine our democracy and risk long-term damage to our institutions. Although some Republican leaders have supported President Trump’s right to challenge aspects of the voting in various states, for the good of the country, they should now strongly oppose his dangerous and extra-legal efforts to intimidate state election officials and distort the Electoral College process. 

President Trump’s refusal to permit the presidential transition also poses significant risks to our national security, at a time when the U.S. confronts a global pandemic and faces serious threats from global adversaries, terrorist groups, and other forces. The delay in allowing transition teams to meet and confer with officials on the Coronavirus Task Force and at the National Security Council, the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, and the other departments and agencies critical to U.S. national security means that the incoming Biden Administration will be less prepared to defend America’s security when it assumes power in 59 days. 

These concerns are not just hypothetical: the 9/11 Commission concluded that the shortened transition to the George W. Bush Administration during the election dispute in 2000-2001 “hampered the new administration in identifying, recruiting, clearing, and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees” who were responsible for addressing the gathering threat of al Qaida terrorists in the months leading up to the 9/11 attacks. To ensure national security readiness, the Commission recommended that a high priority be placed on “minimizing as much as possible the disruption to national security policymaking during the change of administrations.” 

The election is over, the outcome certain. Over the past days, a number of Republican leaders have called on President Trump to respect the will of the American people. It is now time for the rest of the Republican leadership to put politics aside and insist that President Trump cease his dilatory and anti-democratic efforts to undermine the result of the election and begin a smooth and orderly transition of power to President-elect Biden. By encouraging President Trump’s delaying tactics or remaining silent, Republican leaders put American democracy and national security at risk.

Adm. Steve Abbot, Fmr Dep Homeland Security Advisor

Kenneth Adelman, Fmr Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

Amb. Peter Allgeier, Fmr Deputy US Trade Representative

Mary Catherine Andrews, Fmr Special Asst to the President

Richard Armitage, Fmr Director, NSC Staff

 Nancy Bearg, Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff

John Bellinger,  Fmr Legal Adviser, Dept of State

Adm. Kenneth Bernard, Fmr Special Asst to the President

Mark Bitterman, Fmr Special Asst to the Secretary of Defense

Amb. Robert Blackwill, Fmr Deputy National Security Advisor

Christian Bonat, Fmr Dep General Counsel, Defense Dept

Amb. Charles Bowers, Fmr US Ambassador

Bertram Braun, Fmr Director, NSC Staff

Amb. Peter Bridges, Fmr US Ambassador

Amb. Linton Brooks

Fmr Administrator, National Nuclear Security Admin

Greg Brower, Fmr Asst Director of the FBI

Amb. James Bullington, Fmr U.S. Ambassador

Amb. Richard Burt, Fmr US Ambassador to Germany

Sally Canfield, Fmr Dep Chief of Staff, Dept of Homeland Security

Amb. Jack Chow, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

Thomas Christensen, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

Eliot Cohen, Fmr Counselor of the Dept of State

Joseph Collins, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense

Bret Coulson, Fmr Director, NSC Staff

Patrick Cronin, Fmr Asst Administrator, USAID

Amb. Sada Cumber, Fmr US Special Envoy to the OIC

Mike Donley, Fmr Secretary of the Air Force

Raymond DuBois, Fmr Acting Under Secretary of the Army

Lewis Dunn, Fmr Asst Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

Amb. Eric Edelman, Fmr Under Secretary of Defense

Gary Edson, Fmr Deputy National Security Advisor

Richard Falkenrath, Fmr Dep Asst to the President

Carl Ford, Fmr Asst Secretary of State

Aaron Friedberg, Fmr Dep Asst to the Vice President

William Gaches, Fmr Director of Counterterrorism, NSA

Janice Gardner, Fmr Asst Secretary of the Treasury

John Gardner, Fmr Special Asst to the President

Amb. James Glassman, Fmr Under Secretary of State

Amb. Jon Glassman, Fmr Dep National Security Advisor to the Vice President

Colleen Graffy, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

Michael Green, Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff

Sen. Chuck Hagel, Fmr Secretary of Defense and US Senator

Christopher Hankin, Fmr Dep Asst Secretry of State

Mark Harvey, Fmr Special Asst to the President

Gen. Michael Hayden, Fmr Director of the CIA and the NSA

Amb. Carla Hills, Fmr US Trade Representative

Seth Hurwitz, Fmr Counsel, President's Intelligence Oversight Board

Ash Jain, Fmr Member, State Dept Policy Planning

Les Janka, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense

Neil Joeck, Fmr Director, NSC Staff

Amb. Richard Kauzlarich, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

James Kelly, Fmr Asst Secretary of State

 Donald Kerr, Fmr Princ Dep Director of National Intelligence

Rep. Jim Kolbe, Fmr Member of Congress

David Kramer, Fmr Asst Secretary of State

Ken Krieg, Fmr Under Secretary of Defense

James Kunder, Fmr Deputy Administrator, USAID

Amb. Frank Lavin, Fmr Under Secretary of Commerce

Rep. Jim Leach, Fmr Member of Congress

Bruce Lemkin, Fmr Dep Under Secretary of the Air Force

Michael Leiter, Fmr Director, National Counterterrorism Ctr

Peter Lichtenbaum, Fmr Asst Secretary of Commerce

Amb. Winston Lord, Fmr US Ambassador

James Loy, Fmr Dep Secretary of Homeland Security

Peter Madigan, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

Amb. Steve Mann, Fmr Prin Dep Asst Secretary of State

Col. John McDonald, Fmr Dep Under Secretary of the Army

Bryan McGrath, Former US Navy Officer

Amb. Michael McKinley, Fmr US Ambassador

Christopher Mellon, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense

David Merkel, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State

John Mitnick, Fmr General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security

Allen Moore, Fmr Under Secretary of Commerce

Alberto Mora, Fmr Gen Counsel, Dept of the Navy

Kenneth Mortensen, Fmr Assoc Dep Attorney General

Virginia Mulberger, Fmr Special Asst to the President

Amb. John Negroponte

Fmr Director of National Intelligence, and Fmr Deputy Secretary of State

Elizabeth Neumann, Fmr Asst Secretary of Homeland Security

Sean O’Keefe, Fmr Secretary of the Navy and NASA Administrator

William Piekney, Fmr CIA Operations Manager

Daniel Price, Fmr Dep National Security Advisor

Clyde Prestowitz, Fmr Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce

Victor Reis, Fmr Director, Defense Adv Research Projects Agency

Gov. Tom Ridge, Fmr Secretary of Homeland Security

Paul Rosenzweig, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Homeland Security

Nicholas Rostow, Fmr NSC Legal Adviser

Kori Schake, Fmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning

Wayne Schroeder, Fmr Dep Under Secretary of Defense

Amb. Gregory Schulte, Fmr NSC Executive Secretary

Robert Shanks, Fmr Dep Asst Attorney General

Amb. Thomas Shannon, Fmr Under Secretary of State

John Simon, Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff

Stephen Slick, Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff

Timothy Stratford, Fmr Asst US Trade Representative

Miles Taylor, Fmr Chief of Staff, Dept of Homeland Security

Amb. William Taft, Fmr Deputy Secretary of Defense

Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Fmr Special Asst to the President

William Tobey, Fmr Dep Administrator, Nat Nuclear Security Admin

Jack Tomarchio, Fmr Princ Dep Under Secretary of Homeland Security

Olivia Troye, Fmr Special Advisor to the Vice President

Amb. Robert Tuttle, Fmr US Ambassador to the United Kingdom

John Veroneau, Fmr Dep US Trade Representative

Ken Wainstein, Fmr Homeland Security Advisor

Thomas Ward, Fmr Director of Threats, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization

Matthew Waxman, Fmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning

William Webster, Fmr Director of the CIA and FBI

Wendell Willkie II, Fmr General Counsel, Dept of Commerce

John Woodworth, Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense

John Wolf, Fmr Asst Secretary of State

Dov Zakheim, Fmr Under Secretary of Defense

Philip Zelikow, Fmr Counselor of the Dept of State

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