If a new book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of the Washington Post is correct, U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, committed high treason in the final days of the Trump presidency.
Writing in the soon-to-be-released Peril, the Post reported, the two writers allege that Milley thought Trump might start a war, and therefore promised his Communist Chinese counterpart that he, Milley, would warn of any impending U.S. attack. The four-star general also discussed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seizing control of the nation’s nuclear weapons after a call in which Pelosi called Trump “crazy.”
Trump responded appropriately. He accused Milley of treason and said he must be punished. Milley, it appears, not only gave information and aid and comfort to an enemy but also discussed an insurrection with Pelosi against Trump.
Milley’s Disloyalty
Of course, the two writers depict Milley as doing the right thing by trying to avoid war, not doing the wrong thing by promising to divulge U.S. war plans to an enemy. Milley was “so fearful” Trump might start a war with China “that he moved urgently to avert armed conflict,” the Post reported about the book:
In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike. …
One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Donald Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.
The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. That belief, the authors write, was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.
Why Milley would want to dissuade the Chinese that the United States might attack is mystifying. Typically, a nation wants its enemies to believe it is dangerous, and just might react if given a reason to believe its national security is threatened.
Not so for Millley, apparently:
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
But that isn’t all Milley said. He also told the Chinese he would divulge plans to attack ahead of time, the move that elevated Milley’s off-the-books phone calls to what might be high treason:
Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
Li took the chairman at his word, the authors write in the book.
And one call wasn’t enough. Milley called again to ensure the communists weren’t too upset about the mostly peaceful protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. But “Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, ‘We are 100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.’”
“Milley, who did not relay the conversation to Trump … understood why,” the newspaper divulged:
[Milley] believed the president had suffered a mental decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript obtained by the authors.
In that phone call, the authors report, Pelosi slyly inquired about the possibility of a military coup with Democrat backing.
“What precautions are available to prevent an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or from accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike?” Pelosi asked Milley. “Milley assured her that there were ‘a lot of checks in the system.’”
“[Trump’s] crazy,” Pelosi said. “You know he’s crazy…. He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.” Milley replied, “I agree with you on everything.”
That sounds like Milley and Pelosi were prepared to stage an insurrection before the inauguration of President Biden should they decide that Trump’s “craziness” warranted action.
Milley also told senior military commanders to recall that he, not Trump, would decide whether to order a nuclear strike, the Post reported:
Milley also summoned senior officers to review the procedures for launching nuclear weapons, saying the president alone could give the order — but, crucially, that he, Milley, also had to be involved. Looking each in the eye, Milley asked the officers to affirm that they had understood, the authors write, in what he considered an “oath.”
Trump Reacts
Understandably, Trump attacked Milley, whom he called a “dumbass” and a “failed leader.”
If the story is true, Trump continued, Milley must be hauled before a court martial:
I assume he would be tried for TREASON in that 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!
Trump called the story “fake news” and said “action should be taken immediately against Milley.”
“I never even thought of attacking China—and China knows that,” POTUS 45 continued:
The people that fabricated the story are sick and demented, and the people who print it are just as bad. In fact, I’m the only President in decades who didn’t get the U.S. into a war—a well known fact that is seldom reported.
Republican legislators agree with Trump.
“I don’t care what you think of President Trump, the Chairman of the JCOS working to subvert the military chain of command and collude with China is exactly what we do not accept from military leaders in our country,” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul tweeted. “He should be court martialed if true.”
In a letter to President Biden, Florida Senator Marco Rubo wrote that Milley “contemplated a treasonous leak of classified information to the Chinese Communist Party in advance of a potential armed conflict with the People’s Republic of China.”
“TREASON!” Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas tweeted:
Today’s news adds to the long list of why Milley must go IMMEDIATELY! If this is true, he needs to be prosecuted, tried, and sentenced to the FULLEST extent of the law. NOTHING LESS! Colluding with our ENEMIES to undermine the President is TRAITOROUS!
Hat tip: Newsweek
