WASHINGTON, DC—This week, after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth revoked the security detail for retired General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019-2023, and initiated a series of punitive actions against him, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:

“General Milley and other former Trump Administration officials continue to face credible, deadly threats from Iran because they carried out President Trump’s order to kill Iranian General Soleimani. It is unconscionable and recklessly negligent for President Trump and Secretary Hegseth to revoke General Milley’s security detail for their own political satisfaction. The Administration has placed Milley and his family in grave danger, and they have an obligation to immediately restore his federal protection.

“Indeed, just months ago President Biden said that a foreign assassination attempt against then-candidate Trump would be an “act of war.” Do President Trump and Republicans—who celebrated the Soleimani strike—not believe that U.S. military servicemembers deserve the same protection?”

The Director of National Intelligence’s most recent unclassified annual threat assessment includes the following finding: Iran seeks to target former and current U.S. officials as retaliation for the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, and previously has attempted to conduct lethal operations in the United States.