Since Election Day on November 3, 2020, Trump has falsely claimed that his second term is being stolen, even as there have been no credible allegations of widespread voting issues as affirmed by dozens of judges, governors, and election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Supreme Court.

The letter published by the Washington Post on Sunday, January 3, was signed by Dick Cheney, James Mattis, Mark Esper, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Robert Gates, William Perry and Ashton Carter.

The letter is a show of repulsion towards Trump’s subversion efforts just days before Congress is set to count Electoral College votes.

The group wrote “Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.”

The letter follows Trump’s removal of former defence secretary Mark Esper in November to change the Defense Department’s civilian leadership structure and instil loyalists to Trump