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Vanity fair illuminations brief9/12/2023 ![]() As Alexander Hamilton wrote, the security powers of the executive branch are crucial for “the protection of the community against foreign attacks. The homeland defense system should be a formidable guardrail defending American institutions. ![]() The MAGA movement is keen to exploit that shield in ways that will betray the agency’s post-9/11 purpose and threaten the foundations of our republic. Another administration led by Trump - or someone like him - will weaponize the nation’s domestic security apparatus to wage political warfare.ĭHS is the largest federal law enforcement agency in America-the front of the “shield” that is the nation’s domestic security architecture. The near-miss highlights democratic vulnerabilities that, until now, have rarely been discussed. If Trump had been made aware of the full extent of the powers he possessed, the person said, the result would have been catastrophic. ![]() The president didn’t have full knowledge of his emergency authorities, and no one who was “in the know” wanted to brief him. He served on the NSC during the Trump administration and referred to the manual as “the Mad Libs for the most extreme measures of government.” While Harvey wouldn’t confirm or deny the PEAD contents, his job was “to advise whether to pull out that book and go through these extraordinary decisions,” which he said could be implemented by the nation’s chief executive “with the stroke of a pen.” He was always on hair-trigger alert.Ī former White House lawyer familiar with the situation confirmed that Trump was in the dark. Mark Harvey was once the keeper of the book. These might be the type of actions a president would take if the nation’s capital was destroyed, enemy forces were hunting down U.S. The records hint at draft authorizations to enable the White House to unilaterally detain “dangerous persons,” censor the news media, flip an internet “kill switch,” take over social media, and suspend Americans from traveling. The options are known by an anodyne name-PEADs-or “presidential emergency action documents.” Recently declassified records suggest that the PEADs allow the president to invoke extraordinary powers. Informally dubbed the “Doomsday Book,” the manual contains the president’s break-glass options for keeping the country running in situations ranging from global nuclear war to an armed foreign invasion of the United States. Few people know where it is, and even fewer people are allowed to access it. Inside the White House complex, an instruction manual is hidden in a secure location for use only in national emergencies.
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