JUST IN: Trump Compiling List Of U.S. Military Officials For Potential Courts-Martial

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is quietly drawing up a list of U.S. military officials who could be court-martialed for overseeing the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021, according to NBC News.

The withdrawal, which culminated in a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members, became a rallying cry for critics of President Joe Biden who accused him of recklessly acting on a campaign promise at the cost of American lives. Now, sources tell the outlet, a postmortem of those actions may sweep up high-ranking military officials who looked past the good of the country in order to expedite Biden’s demand. A U.S. official and person familiar with planning by the Trump transition team claims a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers is in the works and may lead to a commission tasked with exploring who is most to blame. It would require gathering evidence on who was making decisions in the final days leading up to the August 2021 withdrawal and whether those military leaders could be found guilty of crimes up to and including treason.

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“They’re taking it very seriously,” one source told the outlet. The effort is being spearheaded by Matt Flynn, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats. Other sources framed the probe as a review of the 20-year war from its beginning to its end and what decisions or events could have exacerbated the tumultuous scenes at the Kabul International Airport, the site of searing images of refugees clinging to the wheels of departing aircraft. Flynn’s involvement was denied by his attorney Mark S. Zaid. “Matt Flynn has nothing to do with the Trump transition team, much less leading any review concerning military justice matters,” he told NBC, adding “No one has sought out Mr. Flynn’s views on this hypothetical legal scenario.”

Another source close to the Trump campaign said the leakers have their own motives for trying to publicize the probe. “The sources apparently pushing this story appear to be your typical selfish Washington, D.C., insiders seeking to gain better positioning for their own administration jobs,” said a person with knowledge of the campaign.

President-elect Trump has previously scorched the withdrawal as a “humiliation” for America and “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.” But it’s not clear whether a charge of treason could apply, especially following a 2022 independent review by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction which assigned blame in Afghanistan to the past two administrations. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defense secretary, has similarly blasted the withdrawal. “The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired. The debacle in Afghanistan, of course, is the most glaring example,” he wrote in his book “The War on Warriors.”

“These generals lied. They mismanaged. They violated their oath. They failed. They disgraced our troops, and our nation. They got people killed, unnecessarily,” he wrote. “And, to this moment, they keep their jobs. Worse, they continue to actively erode our military and its values — by capitulating to civilians with radical agendas. They are an embarrassment, with stars still on their shoulders.”

The transition team is also exploring the possibility of recalling several active duty commanders, according to those same sources. If treason could not be brought, administration officials may still explore lesser charges. “They want to set an example,” the person said.

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