https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/11/09/exclusive-esper-on-his-way-out-says-he-was-no-yes-man/
As had long been expected, President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, cutting short what would have otherwise been his final months at the Pentagon, in anticipation of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition in January.
Speaking to Military Times in an exclusive interview on Nov. 4, Esper confirmed that he never had any intention of quitting, and though he expected the other shoe to drop, he didn’t have a good read on when.
“So what I’m trying to do is, kind of, share my views and perspectives while they’re still fresh,” he said.
Dubbed “Yesper” by his critics, including the president, he takes umbrage with the idea that he has been anyone’s “yes man.”
“My frustration is I sit here and say, ‘Hm, 18 Cabinet members. Who’s pushed back more than anybody?’ Name another Cabinet secretary that’s pushed back,” he said. "Have you seen me on a stage saying, ‘Under the exceptional leadership of blah-blah-blah, we have blah-blah-blah-blah?’ "
Like retired Marine Gen. James Mattis before him, Esper gave off the distinct aura of someone trying to be the adult in the room, the last line of defense between the world’s most powerful military and a commander in chief who saw it as a political bludgeon.
Following his testimony in Trump’s impeachment proceedings, concern flared that the administration might try to retaliate against now-retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who had been a Ukraine expert at the National Security Council.
Months after his February testimony, something appeared amiss, as the Army’s expected colonel promotion list had still not dropped. Vindman’s camp alleged that someone in the chain of command was holding it up, though behind the scenes, both Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Esper had signed off.
“You know, the Army had done all its due diligence on him. He was qualified for promotion. They asked me, you know, what to do,” he said. “I said, if he’s qualified for promotion, do the right thing, put him on the list. I endorse it. We’ll just let the chips fall where they might.”
Then he had his first public break with the president, who had ordered active-duty troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to assemble outside the D.C. area in case they were needed to put down violent protests.
“The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations,” Esper said, strongly countering the president’s threatening message. “We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.”
The president was reportedly furious.
“I was really concerned that that continued talk about Insurrection Act was going to take us in a direction, take us into a really dark direction," Esper said. "And I wanted to make clear what I thought about the situation as secretary of defense and the role of the active-duty forces. And to kind of break the fever, if you will, because I thought that was just a moment in history where … if somebody doesn’t stand up now and say something and kind of push the pause button, then … it could spiral.”