With an eye on a possible win in the 2024 presidential election, allies of former Donald Trump are pitching plans to quell public unrest over his return to the Oval Office by using the military to put down potential protests the moment he takes power.
According to a report from the Washington Post, Trump insiders are floating the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act immediately after being sworn in.
The report also notes that there have been discussions with Trump on how to use the Justice Department to go after former officials who served under him during his single term including former Attorney General Bill Barr, ex-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley and even one of his former lawyers, Ty Cobb.
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Pressed about the idea of using the DOJ to go after the former president's perceived political enemies, law professor Saikrishna Prakash, of the University of Virginia told the Post: "It would resemble a banana republic if people came into office and started going after their opponents willy-nilly. It’s hardly something we should aspire to.”
The Post is reporting, "The discussions underway reflect Trump’s determination to harness the power of the presidency to exact revenge on those who have challenged or criticized him if he returns to the White House," adding that he hasn't been shy about his intentions, telling a crowd in New Hampshire recently, "This is third-world-country stuff, ‘arrest your opponent. And that means I can do that, too.”
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"The overall vision that Trump, his campaign and outside allies are now discussing for a second term would differ from his first in terms of how quickly and forcefully officials would move to execute his orders," the Post treport continued before adding, "Alumni involved in the current planning generally fault a slow start, bureaucratic resistance and litigation for hindering the president’s agenda in his first term, and they are determined to avoid those hurdles, if given a second chance, by concentrating more power in West Wing and selecting appointees who will carry out Trump’s demands."
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