Signatories to the brief are part of a nascent movement seeking to match ongoing public protests with the efforts of former government insiders who are willing to formally challenge Trump administration words and actions.
Most of the participants are former Obama officials, but they include some diplomatic, military, White House and Cabinet-level officials from the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Obama himself offered his support for protest, in a statement three days after Trump’s Jan. 27 order, that called on “all citizens . . . to be guardians of our democracy” and “have their voices heard.”
On the same day, more than 100 former diplomats, government and military officials signed a letter urging top officials at the departments of State, Homeland Security and Justice to use their “discretion” in implementing the directive to “mitigate” its effects.
Using technology that was far less prevalent when Obama took office in 2009, some former officials have taken to Twitter, Trump’s favored means of mass communication, to counter the new administration
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