Trump and his supporters are discovering how hard it is to sabotage election results
President Trump may be rattling our nerves with his baseless claims of fraud and his vindictive firings. But the two weeks since the election should give Americans greater confidence that our democracy can’t so easily be subverted.
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With Trump’s lawsuits falling short, some people fear he will turn to the military to resist a lawful transfer of power. The anxiety increased last week when
Trump sacked Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and his top aides and replaced them with what looked like a war cabinet. But here again, there are protections in place.
The chief guardian of the military’s integrity is Gen. Mark A. Milley, the barrel-chested chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He promised Congress in August that the military would play “
no role” in post-election disputes. If anyone missed the message, Milley
told his troops on Veterans Day: “We are unique among militaries. We do not take an oath to a king, or a queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual. . . . We take an oath to the Constitution.”
The president is the commander in chief, but the Pentagon operates under the rule of law.
Robert S. Taylor, a former Defense Department general counsel, has
cautioned officials that they could face legal risks if they try to interfere in the 2020 outcome. And
Eugene R. Fidell, a military law expert at Yale, has created an “
Orders Project” to advise soldiers who think they may have received illegal or improper commands.