WATCH: Republican Reveals Articles of Impeachment Live to Biden Secretary During Hearing
Representative Cory Mills (R-FL), an Iraq war veteran himself, made a dramatic announcement during a Congressional hearing before the witness, Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Mr. Mills, who is a freshman congressman, stated that he had already drafted articles of impeachment against the Secretary for willful dereliction of duty.
This 5 minute speech by the Florida Republican was quickly picked up by conservative circles. One of whom Danny De Urbina took to social media to write “BREAKING: Republican Congressman hand-delivers Articles of Impeachment draft to Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin over catastrophic, deadly Afghanistan withdrawal” and attached the entire speech to this tweet.
Mr. Mills’s 5-minute speech began with the congressman asking Secretary Austin and General Milley “that if an officer has a dereliction of duty, there are many articles which could remove him for that reasoning, is that correct?” Neither witness proceeded to answer and Mill’s returned to his speech where he defined dereliction as ” a person’s purposeful or accidental failure to perform his obligations”. He asked whether the aforementioned witnesses agreed with that. Mr. Austin is seen nodding.
The Florida congressman continued by noting there was “willful dereliction of duty” where negligence is the reason for failure. He then proceeded to point out how Secretary Austin’s behavior in the Iraq withdrawal allowed ISIS to rise and the case of the Afghanistan withdrawal which left the country in the control of now well-funded and supplied extremist Islamist forces. He pointed out how the intent when the United States went into Afghanistan was to expel terroristic elements. Mr. Mills also pointed to the failures of Libya and Syria.
Mr. Mills’s 5-minute speech began with the congressman asking Secretary Austin and General Milley “that if an officer has a dereliction of duty, there are many articles which could remove him for that reasoning, is that correct?” Neither witness proceeded to answer and Mill’s returned to his speech where he defined dereliction as ” a person’s purposeful or accidental failure to perform his obligations”. He asked whether the aforementioned witnesses agreed with that. Mr. Austin is seen nodding.
The Florida congressman continued by noting there was “willful dereliction of duty” where negligence is the reason for failure. He then proceeded to point out how Secretary Austin’s behavior in the Iraq withdrawal allowed ISIS to rise and the case of the Afghanistan withdrawal which left the country in the control of now well-funded and supplied extremist Islamist forces. He pointed out how the intent when the United States went into Afghanistan was to expel terroristic elements. Mr. Mills also pointed to the failures of Libya and Syria.
The Floridian proclaimed that in his opinion “this [failure] is willful. That is why Secretary Austin, I believe that you should have resigned…but I myself perceive this as dereliction of duty.”
He further remarked that “Based on my perception and having conducted these operations and seeing how political objects were placed above the true military strategy where we should have…not shut down and trap Americans…and abandon[ed] thousands of Americans…that is why, Secretary Austin, and based on further hearings and investigations I have already drafted my articles of impeachment for the dereliction of duty.”
He further explained that he felt “there needs to be accountability at the top and at the highest levels and I hope we can get true accountability with future hearings and investigations.” He added that “your testimonies [as in General Milley’s and Lloyd Austin’s]…will substantiate or discredit my beliefs.”
It remains to be seen whether the Republican majority in the House will go for an impeachment of the Secretary of Defense.
