Woodward, Costa Stand by Book After New Report Saying Milley Calls to China Were ‘Greatly Exaggerated’
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Bob Woodward and Robert Costa are standing by their reporting in the upcoming book Peril after a report raised questions about one of their most serious claims.
General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made calls to China in the final months of the Trump presidency to assure his Chinese counterpart the U.S. would not attack.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise”…
In the second call, placed to address Chinese fears about the events of Jan. 6, Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, “We are 100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”
Milley made these calls, they write, because of his concerns about how unhinged then-President Donald Trump was acting.
That report sent shockwaves in Washington, and many Republicans have demanded Milley’s resignation. Trump himself accused Milley of treason.
Now Politico is reporting that, according to sources, the claims about his calls “are greatly exaggerated.”
A defense official familiar with the calls said that description is “grossly mischaracterized.”
The official said the calls were not out of the ordinary, and the chairman was not frantically trying to reassure his counterpart.
They also disputed the idea that Milley went “rogue” with the call. One former senior defense official said Milley ran this by then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller.
Woodward and Costa sent a statement to Politico simply reading, “We stand by our reporting.”
