WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of former U.S. national security officials is set to release a statement arguing there is no justification for President Donald Trump to use a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The statement, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, has 58 signatures from prominent former officials, including former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and John Kerry, former Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta and former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The statement is set to be released Monday, a day before the Democratic-controlled House is expected to vote to block Trump from using the declaration. The measure is sure to pass, and the GOP-run Senate may adopt it as well, though Trump has already promised a veto.
“There is no factual basis for the declaration of a national emergency,” says the statement, which argues that border crossings are near a 40-year low and that there is no terrorist emergency at the border.
Trump declared an emergency to obtain wall funding beyond the $1.4 billion Congress approved for border security. The move allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.
Trump’s edict is also being challenged in the federal courts, where a host of Democratic-led states such as California are among those that have sued to overturn Trump’s order.
The deep state breaks its cover!
This is just more Deep State anti-Trumpism. Trump knows more about the border emergency than any of these people. He, alone, can protect us from the waves of scores and scores of desperate women and children, who are on the verge of completely overwhelming our troops!
Fifty-eight. Hagel is the only R in the named. Are there others?
This is a win-win for Trump. If he loses in court, he’s still solid with his base. If he gets his wall built, he also wins.
Now, if he can only keep his son in law from buying any more 1.8 billion dollar fixer uppers, they can concentrate on goosing the market with a China trade deal and guarantee his reelection with help from Wall Street.
Hope the House can throw a wrench into things with their investigations.
More names given here.
“Also signing were Eliot A. Cohen, State Department counselor under President George W. Bush; Thomas R. Pickering, President George H.W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations; John F. Kerry, Obama’s second secretary of state; Susan E. Rice, Obama’s national security adviser; Leon E. Panetta, Obama’s CIA director and defense secretary; as well as former intelligence and security officials who served under Republican and Democratic administrations.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/former-senior-national-security-officials-to-issue-declaration-on-national-emergency/2019/02/24/3e4908c6-3859-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html?utm_term=.403cd9c95154&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1