Trump Defense Sec. Esper Says He ‘Was Never Asked to Do Anything Illegal or What I Considered Immoral’
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper spoke with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Tuesday and briefly addressed his tenure in the Donald Trump administration.
Esper has been critical of President Joe Biden over the chaos in Afghanistan, and on Sunday he said both Biden and Trump made wrong decisions:
Both presidents Biden and Trump had the right goal in mind — ending America’s longstanding presence in Afghanistan. But both also failed to pursue that goal in the right way. (2/10)
— Dr. Mark T. Esper (@MarkTEsper) August 15, 2021
By pressing for a precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces, rather than leveraging that military muscle to compel Taliban compliance with the 2020 peace agreement, both presidents hastened the Afghan government’s collapse. (3/10)
— Dr. Mark T. Esper (@MarkTEsper) August 15, 2021
This outcome was not inevitable, which is why as SecDef I formally opposed Trump’s push to further reduce, then hastily withdraw, U.S. troops last fall. I recommended we suspend our departure until the Taliban started meeting their side of the deal.(4/10)
— Dr. Mark T. Esper (@MarkTEsper) August 15, 2021
He reiterated some of those criticisms on CNN International Tuesday, telling Amanpour that Biden “owns” the consequences of this.
Esper has not been that outspoken about the former president, so Amanpour noted at one point he was fried and asked him, “What did you think a ‘yes person’ might do? Did the president even ask you to do anything or make any decision or take any action that you considered dangerous, reckless, or possibly even illegal concerning the military?”
Esper insisted he “would never do anything that is illegal, immoral, unethical, and inappropriate as well.”
“I left the administration with my head held high,” he said. “I think we at DOD did everything we could to advance America’s security abroad and made good progress on that.”
Esper added in passing, “There’ll be future times to talk about deeper issues, and I’ll promise to come back on your show at some point and do that.”
Amanpour picked up on that to ask, “You said you never would do anything illegal or inappropriate. I obviously believe you. Were you asked — period, end of story, yes or no — were you asked to do anything Inappropriate?”
“I was never asked to do anything illegal or what I considered immoral,” Esper responded.
You can watch above, via CNN International.
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