Joint Chiefs Chair Milley says he wasn't trying to 'usurp authority' with China calls

(Image credit: Sarahbeth Maney-Pool/Getty Images)

published 28 September 2021

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that key officials were aware and even helped coordinate his now-controversial calls with China made late in the Trump administration, The Washington Post reports.

The first call, Milley said, was directed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the Post reports.

The chairman went on to testify that 11 people were present for his second call to China — which followed the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — and that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows of the call after the fact. Both calls were intended to reassure Beijing that the U.S. would not attack the country, which Milley said U.S intelligence had flagged as a concern of Chinese officials, per CNBC.

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.

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