The White House defended Gen. Mark Milley amid GOP criticism of his actions as Trump's term ended.
Biden has "has complete confidence in Chairman Milley," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
A book says Milley spoke with a Chinese official without Trump's knowledge.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday defended Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as critics said he overstepped in his role when he was the top military advisor to President Donald Trump.
"I can't speak to the former president's experience with him or the former president's views of him," Psaki told reporters during a press briefing. "But this president, this current president, who follows the Constitution, who's not fomenting an insurrection, who follows the rule of law, has complete confidence in Chairman Milley."
The comments came after an excerpt of a forthcoming book by the Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa was published on Tuesday. It describes Milley's actions in the final months of Trump's presidency.
Milley was "certain" that Trump suffered a mental decline after his 2020 election loss and feared that he may "go rogue," the authors write.
Days after the Capitol riot on January 6, Milley grew so concerned about what Trump may do that he privately called his Chinese counterpart twice to assure him that the US had no plans to strike China, the book says. The top general also spoke with senior US military officials, telling them not to carry out orders from anyone without his involvement, according to the book.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff advises the president and defense secretary but is not part of the chain of command for operational decisions like the launching of nuclear weapons.
A spokesperson for Milley on Wednesday confirmed the general's calls with the Chinese official and said the move was "to maintain strategic stability."
In light of the book's account, Trump, along with a growing number of congressional Republicans, have accused Milley of treason.
Milley "working to subvert the military chain of command and collude with China is exactly what we do not accept from military leaders in our country," Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening. "He should be court martialed if true."
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called for Milley's firing in a letter to the White House on Tuesday. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas tweeted that Milley should resign.
Psaki on Wednesday slammed the GOP members attacking Milley, saying "many of them were silent" while Trump had "fomented an insurrection."
Biden is not "looking for the guidance" from those Republicans to make decisions, Psaki added.
T_T0ps on September 15th, 2021 at 21:12 UTC »
I just love how Miley’s phone call has warranted a call for resignation, but when telecom companies were ordered to preserve phone records, these same republics threatened them in they complied.
frostfall010 on September 15th, 2021 at 20:49 UTC »
It's pretty fucking wild that the GOP is just so openly disdainful of democracy now.
January 6 was an insurrection; people stormed the Capitol, some armed with zip ties and insider information about the location of senators and representatives, to stop elected officials from counting electoral votes in the hopes that Trump could stay in power. They were radicalized on lies from the GOP and right-wing media to believe that somehow the democrats stole the election and that despite all legal arguments failing in court this was an existential and very real threat to our country, so much so that extreme action needed to be taken.
The GOP, almost unanimously, supports the lie that Trump won in 2020 and is using that to impose ridiculously draconian voting restriction laws. And now here we have the GOP calling for the dismissal of a man who was trying to prevent destructive action on an international scale as a result of an impulsive and childish president who can't handle the fact that he lost the election.
They are so far on the other end of democracy and supporting America in any way it's almost comical.
M00n on September 15th, 2021 at 18:28 UTC »
...These "Secret" talks were held with 15 people in the room, including a rep from State, and then briefed to the IC and interagency.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1438140319523037190