Donald Trump's former defense secretary, Mark Esper, rejects the idea of absolute immunity for a president, which was the argument before the Supreme Court on Thursday. But it certainly wasn't the first time he broke with Trump.
Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper, Esper said he hates it when examples are brought up, such as the president ordering the military to stage a coup, because it's too "outlandish."
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Trump's lawyer argued that if he ordered the military to stage a coup, it could be considered an "official act" as president and thus could not be prosecuted.
Tapper agreed, saying that the concept addressed "didn't seem all that hypothetical."
In a "friends of the court" brief, a group of former military officials said, "any military officers who knowingly issued or carried out such an unlawful order would themselves be criminally liable."
Tapper then asked if there could ever be a situation where a commander or any military official was told to do something they knew was illegal but did it anyway because they were given direct orders. Esper said it would never happen because the U.S. Code of Military Justice makes that illegal.
To illustrate Esper's point, he revealed he had rejected a direct order from former President Trump.
On Jan. 20, 2020, or so, "President Trump made a statement that the United States will attack Iran historical and cultural sites. And I went on TV and said, 'No, we will not do that. We're going to follow the laws of land warfare.' And I felt it important at that time to make a statement that not just to the American public, but really to the United States military are professional armed forces that we will continue to follow the laws of land warfare and honor the obligations and legal obligations of our profession."
It was less than a year later that Esper was fired via tweet by Trump for contradicting him.
"Pleased to announce that Christopher C Miller, the highly respected director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be acting secretary of defense, effective immediately. Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service," Trump wrote.
At issue for many concerned about a second Trump term is that he will fire those like Esper who served as barriers to his demands.
See Esper's comments in the video below or at the link.