General Milley may face consequences after all

On January 22, in Mark Milley: pardons and mutiny, I argued a case against General Mark Milly for mutiny, which carries a penalty up to death. Of course, the argument was academic as Milley was given a blanket, preemptive pardon by Joe Biden’s handlers. That article concluded with this:

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Thanks to Biden’s handlers, Mark Milley will never face the punishment he apparently deserves, but a competent investigation will surely include officers that served with Milley willing to tell the truth and honor their oaths of office. The truth about Milley will come out, and this time around, Donald Trump won’t hesitate to see that disloyal officers get the punishment—after full application of due process–and public scorn they’ve earned.

That too is part of restoring our military to its constitutional role.

Now it appears Milley may face consequences of a sort, if not exactly the consequences he arguably deserves:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce he is “immediately pulling” retired Gen. Mark Milley’s personal security detail and security clearance, multiple senior administration officials tell Fox News. 

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. 

The Pentagon will also be removing a second portrait of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon. This one is from the Army’s Marshall Corridor on the third floor honoring his service as chief-of-staff of the Army. Fox is told the removal of this second portrait will take place as soon as tonight. This means there will be no more portraits of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon. 

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For a perfumed prince of the Pentagon like Milley, that will hurt. There are additional reasons to look into Milley’s pre-pardon conduct such as this article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

      §888. Art. 88. Contempt toward officials

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

We know only some of Milley’s blatant contempt toward President Trump:

In his new book “War,” Bob Woodward writes Gen. Milley told him at a reception at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2023, that he believed Trump was “fascist to the core!”

Gen. Milley was still serving in uniform as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he reportedly made the remark.

Woodward wrote that Gen. Milley, “shared with me his worries about Trump’s mental stability and control of nuclear weapons,” in a previous book.

The investigation ordered by SecDef Hegseth will surely turn up even more, and more egregious, instances of Milley’s contempt for Trump who unwisely did not see Milley prosecuted under the UCMJ before he left office. Biden’s handlers pardoned Milley not because they feared Trump would politically persecute him. They had to know Milley violated multiple articles of the UCMJ and was potentially liable for the death penalty but would certainly never receive it. So why would Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) who hate the military and everyone serving past or present, do anything to protect someone like Milley?

Because he too hated Donald Trump? That’s up to half the country, which is a poor reason for such generosity from decidedly non-generous people. Because Milley is a stealth D/s/c? Possible, but these are not people known for loyalty.

What may be most likely is Milley colluded with anti-Trump forces to undermine him. D/s/c’s wouldn’t want their conspiracy to damage a sitting president exposed. That could open them to a variety of charges, potentially including treason as Milley arguably committed mutiny by promising the Chinese to warn them should Trump initiate military action against them. Since he’s pardoned, he could be compelled to testify against them. Wouldn’t it be interesting if members of the J6 Committee, who have coincidently also been pardoned, conspired with Milley?

The review SecDef Hegseth ordered presents interesting options. Should the possibilities I’ve raised turn out to be backed by solid evidence, Mark Milley will have to decide how many, if any, of his stars he wants to keep in retirement. He might also have to decide whether his hatred of Donald Trump and maintaining D/s/c purity matters more to him than being remembered as an honorable officer who, when given the choice, decided to expose a conspiracy to undermine an American POTUS. He might also want that security team back.

I somehow suspect Pete Hegseth plans to give Milley, should the evidence be there, exactly that choice. And if he hasn’t thought of that possibility, may he consider this free advice from a patriotic American.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.