Ge. Mark Milley.Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the Senate Armed Services committee on Tuesday and defended several phone calls he made in the final days ofDonald Trump’s presidency.
The book includes details of a call between Milley, 63, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 81, after theJan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The authors assert that when Pelosi repeatedly called Trump “crazy,” Milley said, “I agree with you on everything.”
In his testimony on Tuesday, however, Milley said he told Pelosi, “I am not qualified to determine the mental health of the president of the United States.”
Pelosi made the call on Jan. 8 “to inquire about the president’s ability to launch nuclear weapons,” Milley said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) and General Mark A. Milley.Kevin Dietsch/Getty; Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty
“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority or insert myself into the chain of command,” Milley also said.
Milley’s participation in two other phone calls — to reassure his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng, on Oct. 30 and again on Jan. 8, that the U.S. was not planning an attack — also came up during the hearing on Tuesday.
After these calls were revealed in early reports on the contents ofPeril, Trump issued a statement suggesting Milley “would be tried for TREASON” for dealing with China “behind the President’s back.”
But Milley said on Tuesday that Trump’s defense secretaries and other members of his administration were aware of the calls. In fact, Milley said then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper directed him to make the first call, which came days before the 2020 election.
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President Donald Trump (left) with General Mark A. Milley.Ron Sachs/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty
During questioning, Milley acknowledged that he did speak to reporters working on three different books about the Trump presidency. Asked specifically about the authors ofPeril, Milley said, “Woodward, yes. Costa, no.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked if Milley was accurately portrayed in the books. He replied, “I haven’t read any of the books, so I don’t know.”
When Blackburn suggested he read the books so he could tell the committee whether his portrayal is accurate, Milley said, “Happy to do that.”
source: people.com
