US Officials Call for Milley Resignation

The former acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller has said that he “did not authorize” the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley to have “secret” calls with China in the final days of the Trump Presidency. 

On Wednesday, Lotuseaters.com reported on a series of claims made by Milley pertaining to his actions before and after the January 6th Capitol Hill riot. The revelations, outlined in the book Peril, included the Joint Chief of the Defence Staff’s communications with China over fears that the former President Donald Trump would “go rogue” - a concern which allegedly inspired Milley to instruct Pentagon staff to disobey orders from the former President as a matter of “procedure.”

Speaking to Fox News, Miller, who led the Pentagon between the 2020 US elections and Inauguration Day, said that Milley’s allegations were a “disgraceful, unprecedented act of insubordination” which violated the US Armed Forces’ “inviolable principle of civilian control of the military.” 

“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer whose sole role is providing military-specific advice to the president, and by law is prohibited from exercising executive authority to command forces. The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense, not through the Chairman … If the reporting in [Peril] is accurate, it represents a disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination by the Nation’s top military officer. [If the story of Milley’s] histrionic outbursts and unsanctioned, anti-Constitutional involvement in foreign policy prove true, he must resign immediately or be fired by the Secretary of Defense to guarantee the sanctity of the officer corps … The pursuit of partisan politics and individual self-interests are a violation of an officer’s sacred duty and have no place in the United States military. A lesser ranking officer accused of such behaviour would immediately be relieved of duty pending a thorough and independent investigation.”

Continuing, Miller denied claims made by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff which asserted that Trump was intent on “starting a war with China” to distract from the election result.

“Any accusations that President Trump was intent on starting a war with China are completely unfounded. President Trump absolutely believed and advocated for a more aggressive approach to China, but he was elected to end our Nation’s wars, not start new ones.  I was proud to play a small role in achieving those goals.”