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More than 120 retired generals and admirals have published an open letter questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election as well as President Biden’s fitness to be commander-in-chief.

The letter, which was first reported by Politico, bears the heading of a group calling itself “Flag Officers 4 America” and claims the United States “is in deep peril” and Americans are “in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776.”

Among the letter’s 126 signatories are retired Rear Adm. John Poindexter, who spent a year as national security adviser under Ronald Reagan and was convicted of lying to Congress and obstructing the congressional investigation of the Iran-Contra affair (the conviction was later reversed), and retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, who spent five years as deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence under George W. Bush and is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council.

“Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the ‘will of the people’ our Constitutional Republic is lost. Election integrity demands insuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen,” the letter reads before going on to accuse critics of voter ID laws of engaging in a “tyrannical intimidation tactic.”

“Additionally, the ‘Rule of Law’ must be enforced in our election processes to ensure integrity,” the letter continues. “The FBI and Supreme Court must act swiftly when election irregularities are surfaced and not ignore them as was done in 2020.”

The letter echoes repeated claims made by former President Donald Trump that the election was stolen from him by Democrats. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, much less fraud in sufficient numbers to overturn Joe Biden’s victory.

Later in the letter, the signatories say Biden’s “mental and physical condition … cannot be ignored.”

“He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night,” it says. “Recent Democrat leadership’s inquiries about nuclear code procedures sends a dangerous national security signal to nuclear armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. We must always have an unquestionable chain of command.”

The letter touches on a number of controversial issues, including coronavirus restrictions (which it describes as “population control”), relations with China, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Keystone Pipeline. It also accuses lawmakers of using the military “as political pawns” in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The letter has been met with an outcry from former military leaders.

Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Politico that the letter “hurts the military and by extension it hurts the country,” though he also noted that it was not signed by any high-ranking officers.

“It’s not very senior,” he said. “In our world it’s not very significant in terms of people.”

Others were less sanguine, with retired Air Force Col. Marybeth Ulrich labeling the letter “anti-democratic.”

“That was way worse than I was expecting,” she told Politico. “They are perpetuating the big lie about the election. I think it is outrageous … They are absolutely violating the norm to be apolitical. They are being used for partisan purposes. They are going against their constitutional oath.”

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Joe Arbuckle, who organized the letter, acknowledged to Politico that “retired generals and admirals normally do not engage in political actions, but the situation facing our nation today is dire and we must speak out in order to be faithful to our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the U.S. against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

We are facing threats greater than at any other time since our country was founded … many of these threats flow directly from policy positions and actions of our own government,” Arbuckle added. “It is critical that the threats to our national security be brought to the attention of the American people and that is the main purpose of the letter. To remain silent would be a dereliction of duty.”

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