Donald Trump wanted to recall and then punish retired military leaders who had criticized him, according to new witness testimony from the House select committee.
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told the panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection that Trump and other administration officials discussed the possibility of bringing retired officers back to active duty so they could then be court-martialed for criticizing him in public, reported Politico.
"Now there were a couple of editorials written by retired flag officers that -- you would recognize their names -- that were very critical of then-President Trump, highly critical of President Trump," Milley said. "And there were actually discussions with me: Bring him back to active duty, court martial him, you know, make him walk the plank sort of thing, right?"
Milley said he advised the former president not to do that, but he suggested that retired U.S. Army general Mike Flynn might deserve that punishment.
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump lashes out at Facebook — claims they lost '80 billion' in value because they kicked him off over Jan. 6
"Mike Flynn is saying things and doing things that I absolutely fundamentally disagree with on so many levels," Milley said. "Bringing him back on active duty to court martial him and subject him to crimes based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice is a giant step."
Milley could recall only two times in U.S. history that had been done to punish a retired military service member.
"What Mike Flynn is saying out there is, first of all, he has a right to say it," Milley said. "He's an American citizen and all that. But, arguably, it's inflammatory. It is certainly counter to, you know, many of the values of our country and so on and so forth. He would argue that's the exact opposite, by the way."