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18 U. S. Code 2381: Treason  

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Let’s be absolutely certain of this, the authors of a book to be released in a few days, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa sat on this information for months.  How do I know this?  It takes time—months—for a book in final form to be printed and ready for distribution, and that’s after the lengthy editing process and other processes necessary to get a book ready to go to the printers.  If Milley did everything they claim he did, he should have been investigated  months ago, and if what they say is true, tried on multiple charges under the Uniform Code Of Military Justice, and if convicted, stripped of all rank and privileges and jailed.  It’s sadly almost impossible to imagine actual traitors facing the death penalty in the America of 2021.  If it’s true, someone as corrupt, as dangerous to America as Milley, should have been removed before he could contribute to the debacle in Afghanistan.  And they sat on the information.  I’ll explain why shortly.

If what Woodward and Costa allege Milley did and said is true.  If not, Mark Milley is going to own them, and probably, The Washington Post.

Woodward and Costa, who work for The Washington Post, claim their book is the result of some 200 interviews of people who spoke with them only on condition of anonymity. They reportedly do not name a single source in their book.  We have no way to know to who they spoke, if they spoke to anyone, their motivations—actually, we do; more shortly—and if they were truthful, or something less.  We do know Woodward’s record for honesty and accuracy is tainted at best.  I’ve no idea of Costa’s record for honesty.  He’s a former “conservative” writer from National Review, but The Washington Post is as virulent and partisan an enemy of Donald Trump, and arguably of Normal America, as it is possible to be.

We know Milley spoke with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, leaders of the disloyal opposition, people responsible for two failed impeachment attempts against Donald Trump, the second when he had left office.  More on this shortly.

We also know Milley is apparently not the primary focus of the book, which is another attempt by Woodward to damage Donald Trump in any way he can.  Why would they wait months if they knew Milley to be a coup plotter and traitor, a man who had done, and could do, grave damage to this nation?  Money.  They waited until just before the book went public so they could headline the Sunday talk shows, and pump up sales of the book.  They’re likely going to make millions, and coincidentally, they have a story the media can run with for weeks, pushing Afghanistan and the plight of the more than a thousand hostages—Secretary of State Anthony Blinken admitted that number before Congress on 09-14-21—off the airwaves.  What a coincidence.

Vindman would know about treason…

Keep in mind as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley is the leader of the senior military advisors to the President.  He has no operational control of our military. He cannot send troops into the field or order weapons fired.  He is not atop the chain of command of any of our military units.  Milley gives military advice; he has no power beyond that of persuasion.

I’ve often wondered why Milley and other high-ranking general officers did not resign in the face of what any NCO and most junior enlisted personnel would have recognized as a sure disaster in Afghanistan?  That’s what honor and duty demand of such officers if they cannot support what’s happening.  Keep in mind such resignation would not necessarily be from the military, only from their advisory positions.  Also keep in mind that even if they wanted to resign from the military, such people have far more than enough time in to retire with full benefits, which for general officers are far beyond what most Americans can ever hope to attain.  Only once resigned can they honorably comment on the issues that caused their resignation.

Yet Milley did not resign.  Was he so stupid he thought what they were doing in Afghanistan was the height of military strategy?  Or was he, as a modern general officer, so coopted by wokeitude he had more important priorities, higher loyalties?  There is now another alternative: Milley thinks he’s President, or at least the leader of a military cabal maintaining the new international order.

On to the story that brought all of this to the fore, beginning courtesy of Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:  

According to a CNN report on an upcoming book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley all-but staged a coup against outgoing President Trump, going so far as to organize the national security apparatus to monitor and interfere with any Orders Trump may have given to the military. In the most startling claim, Milley reported secretly called the chief of the Chinese military to assure him that if the U.S. were to attack China, Milley would give the Chinese military advance notice.

Of course, the way CNN spins it is that Milley thought Trump was crazy and dangerous, and he was seeking to protect the nation via extra-constitutional means:

‘Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to “Peril,” a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa….’

Milley worried that Trump could ‘go rogue,’ the authors write.

‘You never know what a president’s trigger point is,’ Milley told his senior staff, according to the book….

In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon’s war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.

‘No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I’m part of that procedure,’ Milley told the officers, according to the book. He then went around the room, looked each officer in the eye, and asked them to verbally confirm they understood….

As CNN put it, Milley considered it an oath, an oath not to the Constitution, but to him.  As I’ve previously mentioned, Milley is not in the chain of command of any war fighters. He demanded of war fighters that they make an oath to him, an authority above the President.

He told his top service chiefs to watch everything ‘all the time.’ He called the director of the National Security Agency, Paul Nakasone, and told him, ‘Needles up … keep watching, scan.’ And he told then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, ‘Aggressively watch everything, 360.’

If this is true, Milley engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to usurp the authority of the President of the United States, and it appears Nakasone and Haspel were co-conspirators.  This is perhaps the only sane opinion the authors have of this attempted coup:

The authors write, ‘Milley was overseeing the mobilization of America’s national security state without the knowledge of the American people or the rest of the world.’

Patterson is a retired USAF officer who has written extensively on governmental corruption

Or of the President, Congress, etc..

Woodward and Costa also write that ‘some might contend that Milley had overstepped his authority and taken extraordinary power for himself,’ but he believed his actions were ‘a good faith precaution to ensure there was no historic rupture in the international order, no accidental war with China or others, and no use of nuclear weapons.’

“Some might contend”?!  Actual Americans would surely “contend.”  Milley took it on himself to preserve the “international order.”   He’s acting unconstitutionally, violating his oath as an officer, and also a socialist/communist shill for the new world order.  He’s also anti-American—just what we need in a Chairman of the JCOS.  Let’s review: Donald Trump is the only president in living memory that has judiciously used our military forces when appropriate, but very pointedly and purposely did not get us into any wars.  He also forcefully opposed China in trade and otherwise, which is likely his most inexcusable offense to the Deep State/international order. While a Yale Psychiatrist declared Mr. Trump crazy without ever having met him, Trump took and aced a cognitive test.  There is no evidence, none whatever, Trump ever intended to start a war with China or use nuclear weapons

WaPo gives more detail on the call with the Chinese military:

In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.

One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.

‘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.’

Let’s be clear.  Milley had no authority to make such a call, which is not only setting foreign policy—the sole province of the president—but is giving a hostile state a clear strategic and tactical advantage.  The Chinese must have been laughing their asses off at Milley’s naïve stupidity.  If Milley is tried for treason, this is going to be prime evidence:

‘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.’

Milley, if America were forced to respond to Chinese acts of war, promised he’d ensure China could kill tens of thousands, even millions, of Americans, and give them the advantage, likely giving China victory in such a war.  It’s harder to imagine any act that better fulfills the elements of 18 USC 2381.

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.’

Dear General Li; you’re right. Our system of government is weak and inefficient, not like your system, which is highly efficient and not at all sloppy, so you just have to be patient with us foreign devils.

Now some additional information courtesy of Ace of Spades HQ:

Milley’s fear was based on his own observations of Trump’s erratic behavior. His concern was magnified by the events of January 6 and the ‘extraordinary risk’ the situation posed to US national security, the authors write. Milley had already had two back-channel phone calls with China’s top general, who was on high alert over the chaos in the US.

Then Milley received a blunt phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book. Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call, during which Milley tried to reassure Pelosi that the nuclear weapons were safe.

Pelosi pushed back.

‘What I’m saying to you is that if they couldn’t even stop him from an assault on the Capitol, who even knows what else he may do? And is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?’
Pelosi continued, ‘You know he’s crazy. He’s been crazy for a long time.’

According to Woodward and Costa, Milley responded, ‘Madam Speaker, I agree with you on everything.’

I’ve been critical of Trump for keeping disloyal and destructive people in positions of power, but I suspect if Trump knew of this phone call, Milley would have been out the door.  This is a betrayal not only of Donald Trump personally, but of Milley’s obligations to our Republic.  But why, apart from his apparent arrogance and lust for power, would Milley do such a thing?

Milley’s fear that Trump could do something unpredictable came from experience. Right after Trump lost the election, Milley discovered the President had signed a military order to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021, before he left the White House.

The memo had been secretly drafted by two Trump loyalists. No one on the national security team knew about it, according to the book. The memo was eventually nullified, but Milley could not forget that Trump had done an end run around his top military advisers.

How dare the President of the United States do “an end run around his top military advisers.”  Who does he think he is: the president or something?  It’s hard to imagine anyone having their place in the national chain of command more ass backward.  Milley is an employee serving at the pleasure of the President, but he apparently though otherwise. After all, there is an “international order” to preserve.

Via Newsmax.com, here’s Mr. Trump’s response:

You never heard the word China mentioned in a thing like this, Trump said Tuesday in a telephone interview on “Spicer & Co.”

‘You heard a lot of anger about China on trade, and we made a great trade deal. You heard a lot of anger and China with the China virus. But for them for him to say for him to say that I would even think about attacking China, I think he’s trying to just get out of his incompetent withdrawal out of Afghanistan.’

That’s an eminently reasonable suggestion.

Trump called the withdrawal ‘probably the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to our country’ with 13 U.S. service members killed at Kabul airport with less than a week before the pullout.

‘We left with embarrassment on our face,’ Trump said. ‘We left Americans behind. And we left $85 billion worth of the best equipment in the world that I bought, because I was the one that rebuilt our military, and then Biden gave it away.’

‘For Milley to say Trump was going to attack China is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, and everybody knows it,’ Trump said. ‘That is a treasonous statement.’

The statement isn’t treasonous, but more than sufficient grounds—if true—for any sane president to remove Milley from office immediately, and to order an unbiased investigation.  Biden will do no such thing, unless his handlers see Milley as enough of a liability (they don’t, at least not yet).

Trump slammed the claims in Woodward and Costa’s book that Milley feared Trump might go ‘rogue’ after failing to secure the presidency and order a nuclear attack. He noted he had read recently that he was the only president in decades who ‘didn’t start a war.’

Trump said he would have handled the Afghanistan withdrawal much differently than Biden, who has been criticized by the left and right for his arbitrary deadline and for leaving Americans and allies behind.

‘We had a good agreement. They had to meet a lot of conditions,’ Trump said. ‘They wouldn’t meet them, and we bombed the hell out of them, and they’d call and they’d say, all right, we’ll meet them.’

If he were still in office, the military would have stayed until all Americans and Afghan helpers were out, Trump said.

He also would have left no military equipment behind, he said.

‘I want every bolt. I want every nail. I want every screw. I want every tank and every plane. I want all of it out,’ Trump said. ‘We’re giving them aircraft, we’re given a brand new planes, hundreds of thousands of. Of the top grade machine guns and rifles and goggle, night goggles. These people that did this, and that’s Milley and Biden. They’re incompetent people.’

Trump pointed to the list of Afghans who worked with Americans that the Biden administration gave to the Taliban before leaving, essentially handing them a kill list, he noted.

‘Those people are in serious danger,’ Trump said, calling Biden’s miltary leaders ‘the dumbest people.’

Meanwhile, he said, Milley, ‘made this story about me attacking China. Think of it. I’m going to attack China. What’s the reason exactly other than that, they screw us on trade. You don’t attack them for that.’

No, you don’t, and no, Trump didn’t—without knowing what Milley was doing behind his back.  Here’s more from Mr. Trump, via Brietbart.com:

Good. Now if they’ll only do something about it…

If the story of ‘Dumbass’ General Mark Milley, the same failed leader who engineered the worst withdrawal from a country, Afghanistan, in U.S. history, leaving behind many dead and wounded soldiers, many American citizens, and $85 Billion worth of the newest and most sophisticated Military equipment in the world, and our Country’s reputation, is true, then I assume he would be tried for TREASON in that he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification ‘of an attack.’ Can’t do that!

The good news is that the story is Fake News concocted by a weak and ineffective General together with two authors who I refused to give an interview to because they write fiction, not fact. Actions should be taken immediately against Milley, and better generals in our Military, of which we have many, should get involved so that another Afghanistan disaster never happens again. Remember, I was the one who took out 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. Milley said it couldn’t be done!

For the record, I never even thought of attacking China—and China knows that. The people that fabricated the story are sick and demented, and the people who print it are just as bad. In fact, I’m the only President in decades who didn’t get the U.S. into a war—a well known fact that is seldom reported.

Why is the White House leaking this? Keeping their options open?

Final Thoughts:

Once again, it’s important to remember none of these allegations by the authors are proven.  They may be partially inaccurate, partially false, or entirely inaccurate or false.  They may also be accurate and true.  What should give every American pause, however, is just how easy they are to believe of a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whose primary military concern seems to be ridding the military of patriots and “white rage.”

Milley’s office has issued a non-denial general denial, which Josh Rogin provided in Twitter form:

Uh-huh.  And…

Uh-huh.  And about the meetings and multiple phone calls?

Uh-huh.  And about the specific and multiple allegations?

So we have a recitation of procedure as it should be followed, unless one chooses to do things a bit more off the books, and why not, if there is an international order to be saved?  Notice there is no specific denial of specific allegations, and General Milley seems to have a rather expansive view of his authority and the Constitution.  The former acting Secretary of Defense–also Milley’s boss–is not impressed, as Fox News reports:

Former acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who led the Pentagon from the period after the 2020 election through Inauguration Day, said that he ‘did not and would not ever authorize’ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to have ‘secret’ calls with his Chinese counterpart, describing the allegations as a ‘disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination,” and calling on him to resign “immediately.’

In a statement to Fox News, Miller said that the United States Armed Forces, from its inception, has ‘operated under the inviolable principle of civilian control of the military.’

‘The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer whose sole role is providing military-specific advice to the president, and by law is prohibited from exercising executive authority to command forces,’ Miller said. ‘The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense, not through the Chairman.’

Notice Milley has not denied any of the specifics alleged, and for good reason: he can’t.

But Fox News spoke with multiple individuals who were in the room during the two phone calls Milley had with Li. The calls, in October, were coordinated with then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s office.

‘They were not secret,’ a U.S. official told Fox News about the calls, which took place over video teleconference.

Fox News has learned there were about 15 people present for the calls. Sources told Fox News that there were multiple notetakers present, and said the calls were both conducted with full knowledge of then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller – something Miller denied.

‘If the reporting in Woodward’s book is accurate, it represents a disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination by the Nation’s top military officer,’ Miller said, adding that if the story of Milley’s ‘histrionic outbursts and unsanctioned, anti-Constitutional involvement in foreign policy prove true, he must resign immediately or be fired by the Secretary of Defense to guarantee the sanctity of the officer corps.’

The media, of course, are lauding Milley as a hero, saving the world from the evil Trump.  It’s disgusting to see the usual suspects ignoring the Constitution and justifying what would be criminal, genuinely traitorous acts by Milley because of their never-ending hatred of Donald Trump.  It’s yet another example of the breach between Normal Americans and the residents of the country who want to fundamentally transform it into a member in good standing of a socialist/communist “international order.”

As Posobiec’s tweet suggests, and as Fox reports, there are independent means to confirm the allegations.  Unless the National Security Agency is entirely incompetent, they can confirm—they almost certainly have recordings—of Milley’s unauthorized and treasonous calls to the Chinese.  Milley reportedly discussed these issues with CIA Director Gina Haspell and NSA director Nakasone who would have been entirely incompetent if they didn’t direct their agencies to investigate this carefully, which means multiple employees of both agencies would have direct knowledge.  Both of those agencies must be able to corroborate Woodward and Costa’s account in part of full, or prove their account false in part or full—if they’re willing to tell the truth, which can’t be taken for granted these days.

Consider this from the invaluable Mark Steyn:

There are phrases to describe countries where the military isn’t under the control of elected officials, and ‘republic of self-governing citizens’ isn’t one of them.

As I’ve said multiple times in recent weeks, key American institutions from the CDC to the NBA act as if the Chinese have already won. The Pentagon has apparently joined them. You don’t need to penetrate Thoroughly Modern Milley: He’s his own Fang Fang.

Given that the interest on America’s debt has largely funded the expansion of the ChiComs’ military (including what’s now the world’s largest surface fleet), Milley’s offer to further hobble his own side seems a little superfluous: the Pentagon are the Washington Generals and Beijing are the Wuhan Globetrotters.

For younger readers, the Washington Generals were the basketball team that played against the Harlem Globetrotters—and always lost. 

We now have a two-tiered officer corps in our military: American officers who honor their oath to the Constitution and follow the orders of those appointed over them, and woke officers, who serve a higher morality, a higher authority, whose priorities and goals are incompatible with our Constitution and representative republic.  If this is not fixed, and fast, as Abraham Lincoln said:

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

At the very least, Milley must be removed from his position and a complete, competent investigation must be completed, though I wouldn’t expect any competent action in America’s interest from the Harris/Biden/Whoever Administration—Joe Biden, Temporary President. More on this, gentle readers, as it develops