Former Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has endorsed Palm Coast’s Charles Gambaro in the city councilman’s bid to unseat Randy Fine in next August’s GOP primary for the congressional seat Fine won in a special election.
President Trump named Miller acting secretary of defense for the last three months of Trump’s first term after Trump fired his predecessor, Mark Esper.
Gambaro in those last months of the first administration headed the Secretary of Defense Action Group. He was the senior advisor to the secretary and was a liaison with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House.
“I have seen Charles Gambaro in numerous pressure-filled and life-and-death situations. He’s unflappable,” Miller is quoted as saying in a release issued by the Gambaro campaign Monday. Gambaro and Miller worked together on Jan. 6, during the insurrection at the Capitol, when, shortly after 4 p.m. that day–according to journalist Bob Woodward’s report–then-Vice President Pence called Miller and told him to “clear the Capitol” of rioters. Miller deployed National Guard troops at 4:40 p.m.
“Florida is lucky to have him as a citizen and America is fortunate that he has decided to continue his service by entering the arena of politics,” Miller said of Gambaro. “A man of profound courage, commitment, high personal and professional standards, Charlie will give voice to those that all too often aren’t heard and selflessly serve the citizens of Florida with integrity, empathy and fortitude. I am honored and humbled to endorse this great military officer and American.” Miller has written a memoir since his tenure as secretary.
“Secretary Miller is a true American hero who has dedicated his life to defending America. I am honored and humbled by his support,” Charles Gambaro said in the release.
Gambaro was appointed to the Palm Coast City Council last October. A decade and a half earlier he’d held a Flagler County School Board seat by appointment. A brigadier general in the Army Reserve, he has his own consultancy, Spearhead Strategies. He decided to challenge Fine, he said, in part because he considers Fine a stranger to the district he represents, and because of Fine’s “outrageous comments and behavior from a sitting member of Congress regarding very critical foreign policy issues.”
As he did when he was a member of the Florida Legislature, Fine continues to thrive on controversy. Gambaro is one of four Republicans who have filed to run against Fine so far. Two Democrats and three other candidates have also filed for the seat. Flagler County School Board member Will Furry publicly declared a run for the seat as a Republican, but has not filed yet, according to the state Division of Elections.
Fine was asked in a recent visit to Palm Coast whether he was concerned about the large number of candidates, Republicans especially, stacking up to run against him. He shrugged it off, saying he had Trump’s endorsement.
The release notes that Miller was among the first Special Forces in Afghanistan after 9/11. He also served in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, along with numerous other military deployments worldwide during his service, before retiring from the Army as a Colonel in 2014.
Miller previously was the Special Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council (the position Richard A. Clarke held at the time of the 9/11 attacks) and served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations. As Special Assistant to the President, he developed the strategy that assassinated Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran Quds Force–Iran’s version of the Special Forces–and led to the death of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who founded the so-called Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and called himself its first caliph. Al-Baghdadi blew himself up and two children as U.S. forces were closing in during a 2019 raid in a Syrian province.
Miller is currently the Chief Revenue Officer for DZYNE Technologies and is the author of the recently published memoir, Soldier-Secretary: Warnings from the Battlefield & the Pentagon about America’s Most Dangerous Enemies.
Notthatsherry says
Gambaro has come across to me as a very petty person. He has led the charge against a duly elected mayor all the while being only appointed by 4 former council people himself. He won’t get my vote.