By Billy House and Nick Wadhams
Bloomberg News/TNS
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the nation’s top military officer about preventing an “unhinged” President Donald Trump from initiating a nuclear strike - something he has the sole authority to do.
In a letter to fellow Democrats released Friday, Pelosi said she spoke to Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about “available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.”
In a subsequent statement, Joint Chiefs spokesman Dave Butler said only that Pelosi initiated the call with the chairman and “he answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority.”
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats a senior Pentagon official assured her there are guardrails in place to prevent Donald Trump from launching nuclear weapons in a call she initiated following Wednesday’s deadly riot by his followers at the Capitol.
The Pentagon contends Ms Pelosi initiated a call with Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Miller to discuss how to prevent the president from using the military or launching an atomic weapon, worried about his mental state following a rally during which he urged the eventual rioters to “fight” his election loss.
The speaker reportedly told House Democrats on a Friday call to discuss options to remove Mr Trump before his term expires on 20 January that General Milley assured here there are safeguards in place to prevent an unwise nuclear launch.
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