{"id":780956,"date":"2021-09-17T13:13:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T17:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=780956"},"modified":"2021-09-17T13:13:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T17:13:39","slug":"exclusive-oversight-republicans-demand-full-transcripts-of-calls-between-milley-and-chinese-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-oversight-republicans-demand-full-transcripts-of-calls-between-milley-and-chinese-general\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Oversight Republicans Demand Full Transcripts Of Calls Between Milley And Chinese General"},"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\">26<\/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%2Fexclusive-oversight-republicans-demand-full-transcripts-of-calls-between-milley-and-chinese-general%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=780956&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>Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are demanding the full transcripts of two phone calls held by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Chinese Central Military Commission Gen. Li Zhuocheng.<\/p>\n<p>During the calls, first made public by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of The Washington Post, Milley reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/14\/mark-milley-warn-china-trump-phone-call-military-strike\/\">promised<\/a> Li that the U.S. would not strike China and that Milley would warn Li if they did. The calls were reportedly conducted Oct. 30, 2020 and Jan. 8, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese calls raise serious national security concerns implicating the ability of the U.S. to effectively counter threats posed by China,\u201d the Republicans wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in a letter obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller. \u201cThey also call into question Gen. Milley\u2019s conduct with respect to the military chain of command and his respect for and compliance with the paramount principle of civilian control over the military.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the transcripts, the Republicans are requesting \u201ca list of all participants in the telephone calls\u201d and \u201cany notes taken in preparation or contemporaneous\u201d with the calls by Oct. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have been uniformly <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/republicans-investigations-mark-milley-li-zuocheng-house-senate-armed-services\/\">critical<\/a> of the calls, which some have described as treasonous. A group of 27 GOP representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/16\/house-republicans-scott-perry-article-15-6-investigation-mark-milley-china-lloyd-austin\/\">requested<\/a> a 15-6 <a href=\"https:\/\/home.army.mil\/riley\/application\/files\/5515\/1630\/6429\/15-6InvestigationOfficer.pdf\">investigation<\/a> into Milley, which would allow the Pentagon to appoint an investigating officer to gather information about the calls. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/14\/alexander-vindman-milley-must-resign-he-skirted-chain-command\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: \u2018Extremely Dangerous Precedent\u2019: Alexander Vindman Says Milley \u2018Must Resign\u2019 If He Skirted Chain Of Demand)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That option is unlikely, since President Joe Biden has <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/joe-biden-mark-milley-confidence-china\/\">declared<\/a> that he has \u201cgreat confidence\u201d in Milley.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president has complete confidence in his leadership, his patriotism, and his fidelity to our constitution,\u201d White House press secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/psaki-milley-allegations-china\/\">said<\/a> Wednesday, adding that then-President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cstability\u2026 behavior\u2026 and\u2026 suitability to oversee the national security of the United States,\u201d should also be discussed when questioning Milley\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p>For his part, Milley has denied wrongdoing, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/17\/mark-milley-phone-calls-china-within-scope-duties-responsibilities\/\">describing<\/a> the comments as \u201cperfectly within\u201d his \u201cduties and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world, including with China and Russia,\u201d Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for the Joint Staff, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jcs.mil\/Media\/News\/News-Display\/Article\/2775541\/statement-by-joint-staff-spokesperson-chairmans-conversations-with-chiefs-of-de\/\">said<\/a> Wednesday. \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<div id=\"attachment_7284687\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7284687\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7284687\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/milley-li-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7284687\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley (L) introduces members of his staff to China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) General Li Zuocheng (R) during a welcome ceremony at the Bayi Building in Beijing on August 16, 2016. (MARK SCHIEFELBEIN\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Washington Post\u2019s Josh Rogin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2021\/09\/16\/milley-is-neither-traitor-nor-savior-republic\/\">reported<\/a> Thursday that Milley\u2019s October call was at the behest of then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in an effort to \u201csend a reassuring message\u201d and \u201ccool tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMilley was absolutely not going rogue,\u201d a senior Pentagon official reportedly said.<\/p>\n<p>The conflicting reports underscore the need for an investigation, Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who spearheaded the letter, told the Daily Caller.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI stand united with my fellow Republican House Oversight Committee members in demanding transparency and accountability from the top brass in our Armed Forces following the disturbing allegation levied against Gen. Milley,\u201d Donalds said. \u201cThis request for documents will ensure transparency and set the record straight. Did Gen. Milley commit treason, or didn\u2019t he? The answer to this crucial question rests in those transcripts, and for the sake of our Constitutional Republic, it would behoove Secretary Lloyd Austin to release these documents promptly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milley is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee about the U.S.\u2019s withdrawal from Afghanistan, where he will likely be questioned about the calls. He has not yet been scheduled to testify in front of any House committees.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read the letter here:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View Transcript Request to SECDEF Letter 091721[1] on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/525893600\/Transcript-Request-to-SECDEF-Letter-091721-1#from_embed\">Transcript Request to SECDE\u2026<\/a> by <a title=\"View Michael Ginsberg&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/548087574\/Michael-Ginsberg#from_embed\">Michael Ginsberg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are demanding the full transcripts of two phone calls held by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley &#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-780956","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\/780956","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=780956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780956\/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=780956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}