SILENCING THE GENERALS: A bipartisan chorus in Congress is demanding to know why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out more than twenty generals and admirals since January 2025, often overnight, sometimes via social media, almost never with an explanation and critics worry that DoD may be ignoring a legal requirement that determines how much these officers are paid in retirement. Here’s how it breaks down: three and four-star grades aren't permanent ranks. They're temporary, tied to specific jobs, so when an officer holding one of these ranks retires (by choice or by force), federal law — Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1370 — requires the Secretary of Defense to certify in writing, to the President and to both Armed Services Committees, that the officer served satisfactorily. That certification is supposed to arrive at least 60 days before retirement. Normally, without it, the officer doesn't retire as a three or four-star but will instead revert to their permanent grade, (which is almost always two stars) and take a significantly reduced pension that comes with it. Under previous administrations, certification was routine. Today, there is no public record of the Pentagon submitting a single timely certification for any of the twenty-plus officers forced out since January of last year.
LOOSE LIPS CAN SINK PENSIONS: Theoretically, once an officer retires - they have freedom of speech. Still, the officers who ran U.S. Southern Command, directed the Defense Intelligence Agency, led the Army and the Navy (not to mention the Joint Chiefs) have gone silent regarding their early departures. Math could offer some clues as to why. A four-star retiring in that grade earns roughly $240,000 a year for life. A two-star earns as much as $100,000 less annually. And guess who holds the pen on that certification? The Secretary of Defense, who can also reopen a prior determination on "misconduct" grounds, a term the statute leaves loosely defined. So, essentially, speak out, and your retirement grade could suddenly be reconsidered.
SHRIMP DIPLOMACY FOR GREENLAND? President Trump's push to acquire Greenland has been sold as a matter of Arctic security, rare earth minerals and countering Chinese influence – all of which makes sense for the U.S. presence that already exists there. But one Trump appointee recently added another benefit to the list: bringing back unlimited shrimp at Red Lobster. In the “we can’t make this up” category, Tom Dans, chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, reportedly told The New Yorker that America could absorb Greenland's seafood exports, cut China out of the supply chain and restore the restaurant chain's once-bankrupt all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion. The shrimp pitch lands against the backdrop of a broader U.S. influence effort that has rattled Greenlanders. Earlier this year, roughly five percent of Nuuk's population gathered outside the small U.S. consulate—the largest demonstration in Greenlandic history—to protest Trump's repeated insistence that the United States would obtain the island "one way or another." It’s pretty obvious that Greenland remains firmly opposed to joining the United States. But if Washington ever does close the deal, at least Americans may know what to expect on the shrimp menu.
NONE OF WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT: John Bolton, the former national security advisor, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of illegally retaining classified national security information — specifically, by writing it down in a diary and sharing it with his wife and daughter. The case centers on more than a thousand pages of diary-like entries Bolton kept during his tenure as the third national security advisor in President Trump’s first term. Prosecutors say the entries contained information classified as high as Top Secret/SCI, drawn from intelligence briefings, foreign leader conversations, and high-level White House meetings. After transmitting one document to the two family members, neither of whom held a security clearance, Bolton reportedly wrote in a follow-up message: "None of which we talk about!!!" Under the plea agreement, the original 18-count indictment, charging both retention and transmission of national defense information, was reduced to a single felony count. Bolton faces up to five years in prison and a $2.25 million fine, though his team will argue for no prison time. Sentencing is up to U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang. Sentencing is scheduled for October 28. Bolton's lawyers have maintained throughout that he did not remove physically marked classified documents from government facilities, and that his 2020 memoir, the one President Trump said should have landed Bolton in prison after the two had a falling out, contained no classified material. Bolton's explanation, per a source close to him previously cited by NBC News, is that pleading guilty was an act of patriotism and that going to trial would have required disclosing far more classified material in open court. He is, in other words, protecting secrets by admitting he didn't protect secrets.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A NEW (ACTING) DNI – There is a new (acting) sheriff in town at Liberty Crossing with federal housing czar Bill Pulte picking up additional duties as Acting DNI after the outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard ended her stint earlier than expected last week. So what has the new boss been up to? Well, for one thing he has created an X account with the @DNIPulte. (No “acting” – probably just an oversight). When last we checked, @DNIPulte had three posts up – two of which were heroic images of President Trump. Beyond that – we’re not sure if he has started to carry out his reported threat to fire hundreds of DNI employees. We did notice that the current DNI website leadership page seems to be missing some folks who were there just a week or two ago. (Yes, we actually visit the page quite often.) We’re not sure whether those folks have left the building or if there is just some rearranging of deck chairs going on behind the scenes. DNI. We “Do Not (have any) Idea.”
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