House panel: We want info on China calls
Following revelations that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley assured China that outgoing President Donald Trump would not launch a military attack against it, the House Jan. 6 Select Committee has asked the Pentagon for all documents related to the matter.
“The facts surrounding steps taken at the Pentagon to protect our security both before and after January 6th are a crucial area of focus for the Select Committee,” Chair Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in a statement Thursday.
Their statement comes days after tell-all book “Peril,” by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, revealed Milley (left) made several calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him of the US government’s stability.
Milley reportedly first called Li on Oct. 30 to reassure him that the US military “are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you,” the book says.
He reached out to Li again on Jan. 8 in the wake of the deadly riot by Trump supporters at the US Capitol. During that conversation, Milley told Li the US government was “100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes,” according to the book.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Joint Staff confirmed the calls took place and claimed they were “in keeping with [Milley’s] duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability.”
While Milley is scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee Sept. 28 to discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from the general on the calls.
“We will carefully evaluate all the facts based on firsthand testimony, contemporaneous documents and other relevant materials,” Thompson and Cheney added. Mark Moore, Juliegrace Brufke and Callie Patteson