U.S. Army General and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, without the knowledge of former President Donald Trump, on a phone call told his Chinese counterpart that he would warn the communist regime if the commander-in-chief were to order a preeminent military strike before it took place, according to “Peril,” a book authored by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
The alleged report has led to calls for Milley’s resignation, with some saying that if true would be an act of treason against the United States.
Candidate for Alabama’s fifth congressional district Casey Wardynski joined WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program” on Thursday to discuss the controversy surrounding the accusation.
Wardynski served as assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs under Trump. The retired colonel is a three-decade long U.S. Army veteran and West Point graduate.
In the interview with Huntsville radio host Michael Yaffee, Wardynski provided a personal account of what he sees as senior military officials’ disregard for civilian control of the military and contempt for the former president.
“I routinely, you know, worked in and around General Milley and I routinely saw behaviors that did not reflect a high regard for civilian control of the military,” claimed Wardynski. “I saw him and individuals under his supervision attempt to make policy without approval of the civilian leadership. I saw them usurp authorities that belonged to civilian leaders and in their actions and behaviors it was pretty clear to me that they were contemptuous of civilian control, all the way up to and including the President of the United States.”
The congressional candidate contended that Milley and other high-ranking military officials consistently expressed their disdain for Trump.
“I felt like in working around them that they did not think the president was an appropriate leader, he wasn’t from Washington, he wasn’t someone they would’ve picked,” added Wardynski. “You definitely had the feeling of working in the deep state. The permanent government did not particularly value Trump’s leadership.”
He continued, “You could see across the administration everything they did to stop him from the FBI to the CIA, and now, [t]hings I knew about now publicly revealed that General Milley was up to, my estimation is, the other joint chiefs were up to as well,” adding that he believed Milley to be “well outside his authority.”
Wardynski maintained that Milley and his colleagues used the January 6 riots to “justify” their attempts to circumvent the former president’s policy-making authority.
“Milley’s trying to paint a picture today that the president was unstable, [i]n and around the election, and that simply is not my experience,” said Wardynski. “My experience was they were against him far ahead of that. They were usurping his authorities and others’ authorities far ahead of that. It’s convenient that January 6 happened for them, that they could somehow link that to instability and claim that they’re justified in their actions, which they simply are not justified.”
Wardynski went on to say that he voiced his concerns to the general counsel and the White House personnel office.
Milley, through a Pentagon spokesperson, confirmed that he spoke to his Chinese counterpart but claimed that he did not overstep his authority, according to NPR. Milley maintained that he was “conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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