(CNN) – As President Donald Trump continues to deny his electoral defeat to Joe Biden, 10 former U.S. defense secretaries announced in an upbeat public letter Sunday in The Washington Post that the presidential election is over.

The letter, signed by Dick Cheney, James Mattis, Mark Esper, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Robert Gates, William Perry and Ashton Carter, shows significant force against Trump’s obedience attempts in college days before the election. .

Elections Our elections have been held. Counts and audits have been carried out. The courts have dealt with related challenges. The results have been certified by the governors. And the Election College voted. The time to question the results is over; The time has come to count the votes of the Electoral College as stipulated in the Constitution and the law, ”the committee wrote.

Since election day, Trump has been falsely claiming that there is an attempt to steal his second term, even in the absence of credible allegations of widespread voting problems by dozens of judges, governors and election officials, the Electoral College, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, Republicans in Congress are widely in favor of the president, who plans to oppose Biden’s victory during Wednesday’s election college review, although their efforts will inevitably delay Biden’s victory.

What former defense secretaries say

Former defense secretaries, who have been in office for decades, wrote that presidential changes “are an important part of a successful transition of power.”

“They often occur in times of international uncertainty about US national security policy and posture, which may occur at a time when the nation is vulnerable to the actions of enemies seeking to exploit the situation.

The letter includes allegations of loyalty to the president as part of a series of changes in the civilian leadership structure of the Department of Defense following the indictment of Esper in November.

Unrest at the Pentagon

The restructuring tensed officials within the Pentagon and triggered a sense of alarm among military and civilian officials.

When General Mark Millie, the top US military official and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress in August that the military would not help resolve any electoral dispute, the group of former defense secretaries reiterated in their letter that such an attempt would “lead us to dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional territory.”

“Civil and military officers who direct or carry out such activities will be liable to face criminal penalties for the serious consequences of their actions in our Republic,” the letter said.

Cohen, a Republican who served as Secretary of Defense during Bill Clinton’s presidency, said it would be “unconstitutional” for Trump to take the “extraordinary” course of action “shortly after the letter to CNN’s Anna Cabrera about the” newsroom “was published.

“This is really our attempt to impress the American people. We believe they are all patriots. President Trump has taken them on a path, an unconstitutional path. So we feel it because we have worked in the defense sector. It is ours to say: Please, all of you in the defense sector, serve this country.” You have vowed to do, this constitution, not any particular person, ”he said.

Idea de Dick Cheney

Perry, a Democrat who served as Secretary of Defense during Clinton’s presidency, said in a tweet Sunday night that the idea for the report came from Seni, a Republican who served as Secretary of Defense during George W. Bush’s presidency. Before becoming George’s vice president. W. Bush.

“Each of us has vowed to support and defend the Constitution; that will not change based on the position of the party,” Perry said.

The former defense secretaries ended their letter by urging the department to “abstain from any political activity” that could undermine the election results or affect the transition to the new administration.

“We urge many generations of Americans to do what they did before,” the letter said.

“This final move takes into account the highest traditions of the US military and the professional and history of democratic change in our great country.”