Yahoo Autos Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman says Gen. Mark Milley 'must resign' following report that he called his Chinese counterpart to avoid war with China
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said Gen. Mark Milley "must resign" amid Woodward book details.
Milley called his Chinese counterpart twice to reassure China that the US had no plans to attack.
Fox reported that there were 15 people on Milley's call and its details were shared with the intel community.
A key witness who testified against then-President Donald Trump in his first impeachment called for Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to resign following bombshell allegations from a new book by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
Insider obtained an early copy of the book, "Peril," which is set to be released next week.
Woodward and Costa wrote that in the run-up to the 2020 election and in the months after, Milley grew so concerned by Trump's erratic behavior that he called his Chinese counterpart twice to assure him that the US would not start a war with China.
The first call took place on October 30, a few days before the November 3 general election, the book said. The second call was on January 8, two days after a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol in a failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
In one call, the new book reported that Milley told his counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng: "If we're going to attack, I'm going to call you ahead of time. It's not going to be a surprise."
Such a tip-off would appear to violate the military's rules about secrecy before missions. The book also said Milley had senior officers make an "oath" to inform him of any orders to launch nuclear weapons and that they follow procedures to the letter.
Reacting to the allegations, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman tweeted, "If this is true GEN Milley must resign. He usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It's an extremely dangerous precedent. You can't simply walk away from that. #dotherightthingintherightway."
