Army chief of staff slaps down pardoned general Mike Flynn's demand for martial law saying 'There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election'
The Army chief of staff was forced to issue a statement Friday stating the military has 'no role' in determining U.S. elections after Mike Flynn, a close former aide to President Trump, demanded martial law.
Flynn downplayed the importance of using military power to oversee political change, and in an interview called for using military 'capabilities' to oversee a rerun of the election in states Trump lost.
On Friday Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville responded with a statement asserting the military's long-held position against involving in U.S. political decisions.
'There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election,' they said.
Civilian control of the military is a key tenet of the U.S. Constitution, and a distinguishing characteristic of democracies compared to military dictatorships.
Flynn issued his call in an interview on Newsmax, a Trump-friendly network. He echoed election conspiracy theories put forward by his lawyer, Sidney Powell, who has filed 'Kraken' lawsuits in battleground states seeking to overturn the election. Those suits have racked up dozens of losses in court.
Trump could 'order the – within the swing states, if he wanted to – he could take military capabilities, and he could place those in states and basically re-run an election in each of those states,' Flynn told the network.
'I mean, it's not unprecedented. I mean, these people are out there talking about martial law like it's something that we've never done. Martial law has been instituted 64 times,' he said.
Martial law has been imposed in response to wars, disasters and riots – but not to overturn an election where state officials, courts, electors, and the Supreme Court failed to accept allegations of fraud.
'He could take military capabilities, and he could place those in states and basically re-run an election in each of those states,' said former national security advisor Mike Flynn, who said Trump could declare martial law
And contrary to Flynn's suggestion, there is no record of martial law having ever been declared by a US president to hold a new election.
'There is no way in the world we are going to be able to move forward as a nation,' said Flynn.
He also backed a conspiracy touted by Trump that Dominion voting machines 'flipped' votes from Trump to Joe Biden.
'He could immediately, on his order, seize every single one of these machines, on his order,' Flynn said.
Flynn also said: 'I'm not calling for that. We have a constitutional process ... that has to be followed.'
Trump fired Flynn as his national security advisor. Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The Justice Department reversed course and dropped charges. Trump then pardoned him even while a federal judge was overseeing the case.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville issued a statement saying the military has 'no role' in determining U.S. elections
Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy joined in the statement
President Trump's walk across Lafayette Square in June drew a reassessment from military brass who later distanced themselves from the event
The military by law and precedent seeks to stay out of domestic affairs and allow local jurisdictions to do policing
Trump pardoned Flynn last month
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois blasted Flynn's comment. 'No. The military will not be 'deployed' to re-run an election,' he tweeted. 'It's time for this to be shut down, and now. Gen. Flynn has lost his moral authority to be taken seriously, and the GOP needs to stand up to it.'
He ended with the hashtag: '#RestoreOurGOP.'
That drew a response from Flynn's son: 'F*** you and your anti-Trump establishment losers. @GenFlynn served 33 years, rose through the ranks, and became a general for a reason. You served 7 years, only to then become a WEAK, grubby politician. Leave the decisions to the big boys,' he wrote.
Kinzinger responded: 'Defending the nation takes all forms, both in my 17 years of continued military service, and in defending the very integrity of the military’s role in America.'