{"id":774227,"date":"2021-09-17T09:28:30","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T13:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=774227"},"modified":"2021-09-17T09:28:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T13:28:35","slug":"gen-milley-responds-to-allegations-of-secret-phone-calls-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gen-milley-responds-to-allegations-of-secret-phone-calls-with-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen. Milley Responds To Allegations Of Secret Phone Calls With China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgen-milley-responds-to-allegations-of-secret-phone-calls-with-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=774227&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley addressed Friday the allegedly secret phone calls he made to China at the end of former President Donald Trump\u2019s time in office, declaring them to be \u201cperfectly within\u201d his \u201cduties and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milley made <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/donald-trump-china-joint-chiefs-of-staff-1b23ba339e50a7c17c43c1281a0b4e04\">the comments to<\/a> The Associated Press and a second reporter en route to Europe, the AP noted. This is Milley\u2019s first time speaking publicly about the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/14\/mark-milley-warn-china-trump-phone-call-military-strike\/\">allegations<\/a>, which were reported in the book&nbsp;\u201cPeril\u201d by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and reporter Robert Costa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeril\u201d accuses Milley of placing two secret phone calls on Oct. 30, 2020, and Jan. 8 to assure Chinese Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People\u2019s Liberation Army that America wouldn\u2019t be issuing a military strike. The book also reports that Milley promised to warn China in the event of an incoming attack and alleged that the phone calls were kept from Trump.<\/p>\n<p>After quickly defending the calls and claiming no wrongdoing occurred, Milley declined to speak further on the subject, the AP reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s 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,\u201d Milley said. \u201cI\u2019ll go into any level of detail Congress wants to go into in a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milley is set to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal Sept. 28. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is also scheduled to testify on the same day. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/14\/alexander-vindman-milley-must-resign-he-skirted-chain-command\/\">(RELATED:&nbsp;\u2018Extremely Dangerous Precedent\u2019: Alexander Vindman Says Milley \u2018Must Resign\u2019 If He Skirted Chain Of Command)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7284532\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"42\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7284532\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7284532\" src=\"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"US Army General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, holds a press briefing about the US military drawdown in Afghanistan, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC September 1, 2021. - The Taliban&#039;s victory lap, celebrating the final withdrawal of US troops, follows the group&#039;s astonishing two-week takeover that capped a simmering 20-year insurgency. (Photo by SAUL LOEB \/ AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-186x120.jpg 186w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-620x401.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-768x496.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-1536x992.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1234995510-1-2048x1323.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7284532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Army General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, holds a press briefing about the US military drawdown in Afghanistan, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC September 1, 2021. \u2013 The Taliban\u2019s victory lap, celebrating the final withdrawal of US troops, follows the group\u2019s astonishing two-week takeover that capped a simmering 20-year insurgency. (Photo by SAUL LOEB \/ AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The top U.S. official will now likely face questions from the committee on the phone calls with China.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden and the White House as a whole have repeatedly expressed <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/joe-biden-mark-milley-confidence-china\/\">confidence<\/a> in Milley, even after the revelations from the book. Biden said he has \u201cgreat confidence in Gen. Milley\u201d Wednesday and White House press secretary Jen Psaki has echoed the same sentiment during the week\u2019s press briefings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I can assure you all of is that the president knows Gen. Milley,\u201d Psaki said Wednesday. \u201cHe has been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for almost eight months of his presidency. They\u2019ve worked side-by-side through a range of international events. The president has complete confidence in his leadership, his patriotism, and his fidelity to our constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has been widespread reporting and commentary from members of his own cabinet, the former president\u2019s cabinet, including high-ranking national security officials, questioning the former president\u2019s stability, his behavior, and his suitability to oversee the national security of the United States. So those are important questions that need to be discussed as well,\u201d Psaki also noted, trying to bring the spotlight back onto Trump\u2019s final days in office.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Milley <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/mark-milley-statement-secret-call-china-trump\/\">addressed<\/a> the allegations in the book Wednesday, issuing a lengthy statement suggesting his actions are standard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world, including with China and Russia,\u201d Milley spokesman Col. Dave Butler said. \u201cThese conversations remain vital to improving mutual understanding of U.S. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability. All calls from the Chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency,\u201d Butler continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley addressed Friday the allegedly secret phone calls he made to China at the end of former President Donald Trump\u2019s time in office, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}