Fifty-eight former national security officials signed onto a statement that publicly rebukes President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration for the U. S.-Mexico border. “We…
Fifty-eight former national security officials signed onto a statement that publicly rebukes President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration for the U. S.-Mexico border.
“We are aware of no emergency that remotely justifies such a step,” read a portion of the statement, released Monday, from both Democratic and Republican officials who’ve worked in the national security realm. “[U]nder no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the President to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border.”
While the letter was technically bipartisan, many of the top-tier names hailed from Democratic administrations, such as former Secretary of State John Kerry, CIA Director John Brennan and White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice. Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel was one of the Republican signers of the letter, but he also served as Secretary of Defense under the Obama administration.
Included in the 13-page statement is the authors’ reasoning for why they believe the president is wrong in declaring a crisis at the U.
