Officials Say Defense Secretary Mark Esper Took Lead on Gen. Milley’s Calls to China

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper reportedly took the lead in Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley’s effort to comfort the Chinese government amid January’s unrest in Washington, D.C.

A senior defense official confirmed the allegation, according to Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, who wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, “Milley was absolutely not going rogue. Esper took the initiative on this in October. Esper asked his own policy folks to backchannel the message. Milley’s message followed Esper’s.”

Chinese officials reportedly began to suspect the United States was planning a surprise attack on their country in October 2020. The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa that Milley called his Chinese counterpart in January when unrest broke out in Washington, D.C., as former President Donald Trump’s supporters broke in the nation’s Capitol complex, to assure that he would provide advance warning if the U.S. took aim at China.

“Backchannel communications were handled a couple of levels below Esper,” according to a Wednesday Axios report. “U.S. officials involved thought the Chinese received the initial message well. Milley followed up later in the month with a call to his Chinese counterpart to reiterate the message.”

The information adds a new layer to revelations about Milley’s actions. Republicans have called on him to resign from his position in the Biden administration, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) saying on Tuesday he set “a dangerous precedent” that could “tear apart our nation’s longstanding principle of civilian control of the military.”