1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

Anthony Tata, the president’s nominee as Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, has fully endorsed abuse of our military as a political weapon. He backed a political purge of generals during his own confirmation hearing and called for the suspension of posse comitatus and using our troops as domestic law enforcement. This is not a man who respects the values that have preserved our democracy. Tata has a long record of bigotry and extremism - with a history of spreading conspiracy theories. He spread the birther lies about President Obama and accused him of being a “terrorist leader,” and claimed a former CIA director had ordered the assassination of Donald Trump. He has repeatedly made his racist and Islamophobic views clear, and dismantled desegregation efforts as a school superintendent, with multiple civil rights complaints following. A bipartisan group of senators blocked Tata from serving in a top Pentagon job five years ago, and he’s only given us more reason to draw the line since. Please oppose Anthony Tata’s confirmation.