Thread by @Monaheart1229

WaPo's David Ignatius' father was Sec Nav 67-69, he appears to have some good insight re Spencer's 'firing' by Esper over Gallagher. Spencer tried to 'find a compromise', Trump/Mulvaney needed a patsy. Long story: #MondayMotivation
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

2-“Spencer had tried to find a compromise, sources tell me, after Trump tweeted Thursday, ‘The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin.’ Spencer feared that a direct order from Trump to protect Gallagher, who is represented by two

3-"former partners of Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, would be seen as subverting military justice. After that Trump tweet, Spencer cautioned acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney that he would not overturn the planned SEAL peer review of Gallagher

4-"without a direct presidential order; he privately told associates that if such an order came, he might resign rather than carry it out. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with the White House late Thursday to try to avert this collision.

5-"Milley’s de-escalation efforts initially appeared to be successful. A Pentagon official messaged me Friday morning: ‘Missiles back in their silos … for the time being.’ But the truce was short-lived. By Saturday, the White House was demanding to know whether Spencer had

6-"threatened to resign; the Navy secretary issued a statement denying that he had made any such public threat and continued to seek a deal that would protect the Navy from a direct showdown with Trump. It was a hold-your-nose solution,’ said a source close to Spencer about his

7-"effort to broker an arrangement that would allow Gallagher to retire at the end of November with his former rank, an honorable discharge and his Trident pin, as Trump wanted, but without direct presidential interference in the SEAL review process. As so often happens with

8-"attempts to work with Trump’s erratic demands, this one ended in disaster. ‘The president wants you to go,’ Esper told Spencer on Sunday, according to this source. Esper then toed the White House line and announced Spencer’s dismissal.” ~WaPo

And NYT: A DOD official said Gallagher..at Esper’s direction because of concerns that the events of the past few days would make it impossible for him to get an impartial hearing. As I said, long story! #MondayMotivation
nytimes.com/2019/11/24/us/…