General Mark Milley, the woke chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, broke his silence over claims in a forthcoming book that he spoke with his counterpart in China to assure the ChiComs he'd give a warning if then-President Trump launched an attack while simultaneously working to limit Trump's ability to launch a nuclear strike in the waning days of his presidency.
Speaking with The Associated Press and Wall Street Journal, Milley confirmed his calls with Chinese military officials and defended his actions as normal. "These are routine calls in order to discuss issues of the day, to reassure both allies and adversaries in this case, in order to ensure strategic stability," said Milley. "And these are perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of the chairman."
Gen. Milley weighs in:
— Andrew Restuccia (@AndrewRestuccia) September 17, 2021
“These are routine calls…and these are perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of the chairman.”
via @glubold, who is traveling with him:https://t.co/aIPiQ4zv28
Despite confirming and attempting to justify his actions under President Trump, Milley told reporters "I think it’s best that I reserve my comments on the record until I do that in front of the lawmakers who have the lawful responsibility to oversee the U.S. military" and promised to "go into any level of detail Congress wants to go into in a couple of weeks."
Along with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie, Milley is scheduled to testify in a mix of open and closed hearings held by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, September 28. The hearings were announced as part of Congress' investigation of what went wrong during President Biden's disastrous and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, but Milley is sure to be questioned now on his actions under President Trump.
In recent days, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has clumsily refused to comment on the veracity of the claims in the book "Peril" about Milley's actions in the final weeks of President Trump's time in the White House. But subsequent claims from Milley and others that his calls to Chinese officials were staffed and done in coordination with other departments suggest that, yet again, the Biden administration is trying to keep the truth from the American people.
Republicans in Congress have called for Milley to resign or be fired, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to President Biden saying "General Milley has attempted to rationalize his reckless behavior by arguing that what he perceived as the military’s judgement was more stable than its civilian commander." Despite warnings from Rubio that such actions are "a dangerous precedent that could be asserted at any point in the future by General Milley or others," President Biden maintains he has full confidence in Milley's ability to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The president under whom Milley made the calls, Donald Trump, called the Joint Chiefs chairman a "dumba**" and said Milley should be tried for treason because "he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification 'of an attack.' Can’t do that!"