Peril

by Bob Woodward

Pelosi said she was calling Milley as the senior military officer because Christopher Miller, recently installed by Trump as acting secretary of defense, had not been confirmed by the Senate.

Congrats needs to pass legislation to clarify whether acting department heads are or are not included in the wording of the 25A.

we’ll just keep pushing for the 25th Amendment and for some Republican leadership to replace the president.

This is Pelosi. Now the word _Republican _.

“Yesterday was appalling,” Haspel told Milley. “We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. He is acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum.”

Holmes reported to Graham that the data in the memos were a concoction, with a bullying tone and eighth grade writing. Graham looked over the memos. “Third grade,” he said. Holmes said part of the claim was based on an affidavit. Graham said, “I can get an affidavit tomorrow saying the world is flat.”

“I think the reason you fell short in Arizona is you started beating on a dead guy,” Graham said.

Was it possible? Lee wondered. He could see plainly the strategy all hinged on Trump lawyer John Eastman’s claim that “7 states have transmitted dual slates of electors.” He had heard nothing from anyone else. Nothing was in the news. Was there even one state doing it? I’ve got to find out if this was true, Lee concluded. Over the next 48 hours, Lee tracked down the phone numbers of elected officials in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin—and through third parties, he sought out information on Arizona. They all had Republican legislatures. He talked with their leaders. A U.S. senator could get almost anyone on the phone. Lee made dozens of calls. Every single person he contacted told him the same: Not a chance you would get a majority in either statehouse of any of these states to say that the election had failed, or to decertify their slate of electors. Not one house chamber in any of these states. Lee soon grew tired of being told the same thing over and over.

“Pain of preparation is much less than the pain of regret,” Milley said.

Republicans seemed distracted by the January 6 fallout, with their fiscal hawk tactics also rusty after four years of boosting Trump.

Clyburn circulated, kingmaker-style. President George W. Bush waved him over. “You know, you’re the savior,” Bush told Clyburn. “If you had not endorsed Joe Biden, we would not be having this transfer of power today.” Joe Biden is the only one who could have defeated Trump, Bush said.

Trump ordered ice cream for himself. “You know, being off Twitter has kind of helped me.” “Oh, really?” “Yeah, a lot of people would say they liked my policy, didn’t like my tweets.” “Yeah, like everybody.” “My numbers have kind of gone up.”

Politics was ruthlessly partisan, McConnell believed. Bipartisanship was fine—if it was the only way to achieve something concrete that he could not get any other way, and without giving up too much in a deal with the Democrats.

Biden had a particular disdain for counterinsurgency, viewing it as a classic example of mission creep. “Our mission is to stop Afghanistan from being a base for attacking the homeland and U.S. allies by Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, not to deliver a death blow to the Taliban,” Biden said, reminding everyone of the war’s original intent. Simply put, for him the war had become a battle between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The U.S. military should have no part in a civil war in another country and needed to bring U.S. troops home, Biden told advisers.

The ministers’ preference, he told the president, is that the U.S. leverage the departure of its troops to gain concrete moves by the Taliban toward a political settlement. Ideally, negotiate the basic contours of a future Afghan state, a constitution, and reform. The ministers had wildly ambitious hopes and talked about elections, human rights, and the rights of women and girls. Biden and Blinken were in a serious pinch.

Graham said he had a more fundamental objective. “My job is to maintain what’s left of the John McCain wing of the Republican Party, the Ronald Reagan wing of the Republican Party that believes that America is an indispensable leader. That we will sacrifice whatever it takes to maintain our security and values throughout the world. That this idea that you can withdraw from over there and be safe over here is folly. That if you don’t understand the best way to protect America is to be involved in the enemy’s backyard in partnership with people who reject radical Islam, you’re an idiot.”