Milley Blasted for Speaking to Media Before Congress, Telling Journalists China Feared U.S. Attack

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  • 03/02/2023

Gen. Mark Milley can’t seem to keep his name out of the news, this time receiving backlash Wednesday for speaking to the media about international security issues before speaking to Congress. 

The backlash began after it came out that Milley told journalists that China feared being attacked by the United States, but did not first give that information to Congress. 

“You chose to talk to reporters instead of us, and that’s of great concern,” Rep. Michael Turner said, per Just the News. “No one in Congress knew that one of two of the major nuclear powers thought that they were perhaps being threatened for attack.” 

Turner made his comments during a hearing with members of the House Armed Services Committee, part of a broader hearing on the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, where Milley appeared alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Central Command Chief Gen. Frank McKenzie. 

Indeed, lawmakers blasted Milley for talking to Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa for their book, “Peril.” As previously reported by Human Events News, the book describes how Milley allegedly made secret calls to the chief military officer in Beijing behind Trump’s back and summoned top American military officers to a clandestine gathering, demanding they only obey orders that come through Milley.

Rep. Matt Gaetz said Milley “spent more time with Bob Woodward on this book than [he] spent analyzing the very likely prospect that the Afghanistan government was going to fall immediately to the Taliban,” to which Milley disagreed. 

“I believe that part of my job is to communicate to the media, what we do as a government, what we do as a military to explain to the people,” Milley said. “I do interviews regularly with print media, books, documentaries, videos on TV, TV interviews. I think it’s part of a senior official’s job to be transparent, and I believe in a free press.” 

“I’m concerned that there’s mischaracterizations of me becoming very politicized as an individual and that it’s my willingness to become politicized, which is not true,” Milley continued. “I am trying to stay apolitical, and I believe I am. That’s part of my professional ethic, and I’m trying to keep the military, the actual military, out of actual domestic politics.” 

During the hearing, Turner requested a transcript of his call with the Chinese military official. 

“I want a transcript of your call with General Li, and I also want any read-outs, memorandums, notice of calls or outcomes,” Turner said. 

Milley agreed to produce the requested documents.

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