Trump’s ‘West Point Mafia’ Faces a Loyalty Test
. . .Thanks in part to Trump’s fixation on appointing current and former military officers to key posts, and in part to his tendency to take advice from a small circle of advisers, the West Point class of 1986 has grown into a profoundly influential cohort in American foreign and military policy. In the annals of the military service academies, its rise to the top puts it on a par with the class of 1915, which bred the commanders of World War II and a U.S. president.
. . .Today, the tight-knit group of graduates—some cheekily refer to themselves as the “West Point Mafia”—constitutes a uniquely powerful circle at the highest levels of government. They consult each other on matters of state and also lean on each other in matters more intimate, in informal dinners and social gatherings around Washington with their spouses. And they have banded together to raise $23 million for a scholarship fund for the children of fallen soldiers, in honor of one of their classmates who was killed on active duty in Afghanistan a decade ago.
Now, the loyalty of all the president’s top advisers is being severely tested as the impeachment inquiry bears down on White House staff and the top rungs of the State Department and the Pentagon. For the West Point Mafia, that loyalty could start to conflict with their alma mater’s honor code, which— as some of their fellow West Point graduates have begun to point out publicly—calls on them to be honest, direct and not evasive, and not to tolerate that behavior in others.
At least one of Trump’s West Pointers has been subpoenaed in the House impeachment probe; Brechbuhl, who is the State Department’s counselor, has so far not met the House’s demand to appear. Impeachment investigators have demanded documents from Pompeo, who has defended the president’s actions as entirely appropriate and who has tried to resist efforts to get more State Department diplomats to testify. Other members of the elite group, including Esper, could soon also be compelled to testify about Trump’s alleged efforts, through his private lawyer, to hold up U.S. military aid to Ukraine in return for dirt on White House rival Joe Biden. (Read more from “Trump’s ‘West Point Mafia’ Faces a Loyalty Test” HERE)
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