Recently pardoned former National Security Advisor and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Atlanta-based attorney L. Lin Wood joined a growing list of President Donald Trump’s devotees calling for martial law and having the military oversee a new presidential election. Both Flynn and Wood tweeted their support for the effort to undermine the will of the American electorate, with the latter saying a U.S. civil war caused by China was inevitable. Attorneys noted that a former top U.S. intelligence official in Flynn was openly signing his name onto a military coup.
The movement stems from a full-page ad in the Washington Times that was taken out by a prominent Tea Party leader in Ohio who calls his group the We the People Convention (WTPC). The ad erroneously claimed that Democrats “staged a four-year long coup” and illegally stole the election from President Trump, using ahistorical comparisons to actions taken by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
“Culminating in this corrupt and provably fraudulent current election planned to illegally and unconstitutionally deny the American people their most sacred honor, right and privilege—which is the right to elect their Representatives!” the ad stated. “There is no doubt that this attempted stealing of these elections again ‘is a case of rebellion…in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion’ that requires exercising extraordinary authority to preserve our Union.”
The ad concluded with an ominous threat of violence if Joe Biden’s victory is permitted to stand.
“It is time to honor your oath, Mr. President. It is time for you to boldly act to save our nation as Lincoln did,” the group wrote. “We the People will support a national re-vote. We will also have no other choice but to take matters into our own hands, and defend our rights on our own, if you do not act within your powers to defend us.”
Wood, who has filed several lawsuits challenging Biden’s victory and is recently known for representing accused murderer Kyle Rittenhouse, was the first to show his support for WTPC, tweeting a link to the ad Tuesday morning and expressly calling for the president to declare martial law.
“Good morning. Our country is headed to civil war. A war created by 3rd party bad actors for their benefit – not for We The People. Communist China is leading the nefarious efforts to take away our freedom,” he wrote. “[President Trump] should declare martial law.”
Flynn followed a few hours later, also tweeting a link to the ad along with the caption, “Freedom never kneels except for God.”
University of Texas School of Law professor Steve Vladeck opened that Flynn’s support for the measure was perhaps violative of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
“The Uniform Code of Military Justice defines as ‘sedition’ one who, ‘with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, creates, in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or *other disturbance* against that authority,” he wrote. “To be sure, there is an open question as to whether *retired* servicemembers like [Gen. Flynn] can constitutionally remain subject to the UCMJ (and my own view is that the answer should be no). But the government’s consistent position has been—and remains—that the answer is ‘yes.’”
UCLA law professor and former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman emphasized the difference between Flynn and President-elect Biden’s choice for national security advisor.
“This simply was not written by a sane cogent person. Imagine if he had remained as national security adviser. And now compare him in judgment and experience to [Jake Sullivan]. Foreign countries’, especially allies’, long nightmare also ending,” he wrote.
Former federal prosecutor Ken White and Reuters journalist and attorney Brad Heath also weighed in on the situation.
“Flynn and Wood, by endorsing this, are calling for mass arrests of political enemies and military force used to silence dissent. It’s breathtakingly morally treasonous to American values,” wrote White.
https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1334132952762966017?s=20
“Big pro-authoritarian energy in Trumpland today: The president’s (recently pardoned) former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, shared a message encouraging President Trump to ‘temporarily suspend the Constitution,’ impose martial law and ‘silence the destructive media,’” said Heath.
Read the full WTPC ad below:
WeThePeople Final by Law&Crime on Scribd
[image via CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images]
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