Louisiana’s Mike Johnson: What To Do About Allegations Against Gen. Milley?
Congressman Mike Johnson talks about recent revelations that Head of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley may have taken top-secret action to preempt then-President Donald Trump from ordering a military strike or launching nuclear weapons, because he was worried Trump might "go rogue."
Did Milley really call China?
Released excerpts of the book, Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, also claim that Milley had secret conversations with China’s top general, reassuring him that the US would not attack, then promised to give him warning up if the US did.
"In a nutshell, here are the allegations," Johnson says, "That General Milley, our top military official, called China's top military commander, shortly before the November election, and said, 'If we're going to attack, I'll call you ahead of time.'
"So, our top military official called the top military official of our leading adversary and, allegedly, gave him a heads up. These are obviously very serious allegations and many of us are anxious to get him under oath and ask these critical questions."
Was Milley following the chain of command, or undermining the President?
According to the book, Milley also had concerns about the former President, motivating him to call a secret meeting with other senior military leaders.
According to CNN, during that meeting, Milley instructed military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center to not take orders from anyone unless he was involved.
"That's based on hearsay. These are third hand accounts. Even the authors don't claim they have any direct connection to these conversations," Johnson says, "(But) if it's true, the most serious accusations maybe that have ever been alleged of a top military official in this country.
"Even the perception that we are yielding civilian control of our military is a serious problem, obviously, in our system of government. There's not a more serious allegation that has been made. We have to get to the bottom of, immediately."
Here's everything about the Milley controversy that Congressman Johnson told KEEL: