“You are each responsible for the command of military or civilian troops and domestic law,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in a letter Tuesday to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General Bill Barr, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
And she raised concerns over whether Trump will use federal forces against civilians should he lose reelection and deny a peaceful transition of power — a scenario Democrats have raised and Trump has stoked by refusing to say he will accept the election results.
She requested the secretaries’ commitments, as well as information on any federal requests to activate their agencies’ forces by August 3.
“I urge you not to allow these personnel under your command or supervision to be used in any future domestic actions against people exercising their right to protest,” Warren wrote.
“I therefore write to seek your assurances that you will not allow the military or civilian forces under your control to be used by the President to suppress dissent and democracy,” she added.
In an interview earlier this month, Trump repeatedly refused to affirm that he would accept the results of the election in November, claiming falsely that mail-in ballots could rig the outcome.”I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes,” Trump said when pressed on “Fox News Sunday” about whether he would accept the results. “I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”
Asked what he would do if Trump lost the election but refused to leave office, Barr caveated his answer: “If the results are clear, I would leave office.”
CNN’s David Shortell and Jeremy Herb contributed to this report.
