Purge at the Pentagon

FULL VERSION OF MY TIMES STORY TODAY: A purge of advisers in the Pentagon known or suspected of being loyalists of former president Donald Trump has been ordered by Lloyd Austin, the new US defence secretary. Hundreds of people appointed to special advisory boards acting as independent policy experts have been told to step down no later than February 16 while a review to cleanse the department of dedicated followers of Mr Trump is carried out. The decision by Mr Austin, a retired four-star army general, to hunt down advisers likely to promote policies advocated by the former president followed a flurry of appointments at the Pentagon in the last few weeks of the Trump administration. When the review is completed, up to three dozen of the most controversial appointees are expected to be removed. They are likely to include retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata who once referred to President Obama as a terrorist leader , although he said he regretted the remark, and claimed the CIA sought to assassinate Mr Trump. Also on the list facing replacement will be Corey Lewandowski, Mr Trump’s former campaign manager, David Bossie, ex-deputy campaign manager and leader of an action group which challenged the 2020 election result, Newt Gingrich, former Republican Speaker of the House, and Scott O’Grady, a former fighter pilot who tweeted that Mr Biden’s victory amounted to a coup. Mr Austin, the first African American to be appointed defence secretary, said the review would assess whether each board was focusing on “our most pressing strategic priorities and the national defence strategy”. There are 42 advisory boards with more than 600 appointees who provide specialist advice on a whole range of Pentagon issues, including defence policy, science, innovation and women in the military. The two prominent ones are the defence policy board and the defence business board. Mr Tata was appointed to the defence policy board on the day before Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president on January 20. He and others loyal to Mr Trump were parachuted into key posts by Christopher Miller who was appointed acting defence secretary in November after the sacking of Mark Esper as Pentagon chief. John Kirby, the new Pentagon press secretary, said the decision to launch a review was driven by the last-minute “frenetic” activity by Mr Miller to remove dozens of advisory board members and replace them in the transition period between Mr Trump’s election defeat on November 3 and the inauguration of the new president. Mr Tata was already viewed as a controversial figure. Mr Trump had nominated him to be undersecretary for defence policy at the Pentagon but the Senate refused to confirm the appointment. He was then given the acting defence policy role, bypassing the Senate, when James Anderson, the incumbent, resigned after claiming the White House was trying to install Trump loyalists in the top Pentagon posts. Under Mr Trump, some of the most experienced and long-serving members of the defence advisory boards, notably former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, had been removed. The review which is to be concluded by June 1 will be led by the Pentagon’s general counsel and the director of administration and management. In a memo last month, Mr Austin wrote to all the advisory boards acknowledging they played an important role in shaping policy. He said he would rely on their expertise while he was defence secretary.