美国总统拜登周三对他的高级军事顾问、陆军上将马克·米利表示“极大的信心”，被揭露后，他秘密致电中国国家主席唐纳德·特朗普正如一位前官员告诉美国广播公司新闻的那样，米莉并不是单独行动的。
拜登在白宫的一次活动中对美国广播公司新闻首席白宫记者塞西莉亚·维加说:“我对米利将军非常有信心。
此前一天，有报道称，美国总统对特朗普领导下、现为拜登领导下的参谋长联席会议主席米利进行了辩护新书会揭露米莉为了避免战争而采取的幕后行动中国或者特朗普发动核打击。
但一位前五角大楼高级官员告诉美国广播公司新闻，在特朗普执政的最后几天，米莉不是唯一一位向中国发出信息的最高国防官员。
这位官员说，他实际上是在跟随时任国防部长马克·埃斯珀的脚步。
《华盛顿邮报》记者鲍勃·伍德沃德和罗伯特·科斯塔在新书《危险》中首次报道了米利10月30日与中国外长的谈话，旨在减轻中国对特朗普在总统大选前计划秘密袭击的担忧选举。这位前官员说，这是斯珀一周前开始的协调努力的一部分。
在此之际，情报报告显示，中国越来越担心特朗普会对中国发动军事打击。
这位前官员说，斯珀指示另一名五角大楼高级官员，一名平民，向中国国防部长魏凤和转达斯珀的信息，向他保证美国无意攻击中国。
“我们看到迹象表明，中国人对来自华盛顿特区的言论反应过度，”这位前官员表示。“我们传达了一切都在控制之中，我们没有计划(进攻)。我们不希望出现误解和误会，我们最终会陷入某种导致冲突的对抗。”
参谋长联席会议主席在这次外联活动之后，又打电话给自己的对手、人民解放军的李作成将军。这位前官员说，斯珀和米莉协调了他们的行动。
这位前官员说:“认为米莉在外交上不知何故是无赖的想法是完全错误的。“事情不是这样发生的。它始于(斯珀)试图确保美国不会在大选前几周与中国发生不必要的对抗。”
然而，据这位前官员说，斯珀和米莉同意不将谈话内容告知美国国家安全顾问罗伯特·奥布莱恩或白宫的任何其他人。
伍德沃德和科斯塔还报道称，在1月6日支持特朗普的暴徒在国会大厦发动叛乱后，米莉担心特朗普会“变得无赖”，并担心他会煽动军事冲突以攫取权力并破坏权力的和平转移。
根据美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)在9月21日发布的《危险》报道，1月8日，米莉打电话给李，向他保证美国“100%稳定”，没有处于崩溃或战争的边缘，尽管华盛顿发生了骚乱。
据伍德沃德和科斯塔报道，在米莉10月份与李的通话中，米莉承诺，如果美国真的计划进攻，她将提前通知中国。但是这位前官员怀疑米莉是否真的做出了那个承诺。
这位官员对这一呼吁的描述更加平淡，而是通过常用渠道，努力防止任何误解，导致中国人表现得好像美国人要发动攻击。
参谋长联席会议发言人周三表示，米利与包括中国在内的外国军事同行的对话“定期”进行，“对于增进对美国国家安全利益的相互理解、缓解紧张局势、提供清晰度以及避免意外后果或冲突仍然至关重要。”
“他在10月和1月与中国和其他国家的通话符合这些职责，传达了维护战略稳定的保证，”发言人戴夫·巴特勒上校说，但没有否认通话的报道细节。
巴特勒说，这些电话是“由国防部和其他联邦政府机构人员组成、协调和沟通的”。
伍德沃德和科斯塔还报道称，1月8日，即国会大厦骚乱两天后，米利在五角大楼召集了一次会议，负责传达军事或核打击命令的军事官员参加了会议，并明确表示他“必须直接参与”发射核武器的过程。虽然作者们报告说会议是临时安排的，但这位前五角大楼官员告诉美国广播公司新闻，事实上，这次聚会是定期安排的。
参谋长联席会议发言人巴特勒说，会议是“根据媒体报道”举行的
巴特勒在谈到不同的军事部门时说:“米利将军经常与三军的穿制服的领导人举行会议，以确保所有领导人都意识到当前的问题。“关于核武器协议的会议是为了提醒五角大楼的穿制服的领导人，鉴于媒体对这一问题的报道，这是一个由来已久的强有力的程序。”
在周二的一份声明中，特朗普称米莉的行为是“叛国”，佛罗里达州参议员马尔科·卢比奥呼吁将军辞职。
克里斯·米勒在11月初特朗普解雇斯珀后担任代理国防部长，他在一份声明中说，“如果伍德沃德书中的报道是准确的，这代表着美国最高军事官员不服从命令的可耻和前所未有的行为。”
他补充说:“关于特朗普意图与中国开战的指控完全没有根据。
他写道:“如果伍德沃德关于参谋长联席会议主席米莉的戏剧性爆发和未经批准、反宪法地参与外交政策的故事被证明是真的，他必须立即辞职，否则将被国防部长解雇，以保证军官队伍的神圣性。
他写道:“我应该注意到，一名被指控犯有此类行为的级别较低的官员将立即被解除职务，等待彻底和独立的调查。"作为国防部长，我过去没有，将来也不会授权这样的行为."
不过，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基周三表示强烈支持米莉。
普萨基说:“我无法谈论前总统与他的经历或前总统对他的看法，但这位总统，这位现任总统，他遵循宪法，他没有煽动叛乱，他遵循法治，他对米利主席和他正在服务的人有完全的信心——继续履行他的职责。”
参谋长联席会议说，米莉遵守了宪法。
其发言人巴特勒说:“按照文官控制军队的合法传统和他对宪法的誓言，米利将军继续在其权力范围内行事和提供建议。
五角大楼新闻秘书约翰·柯比星期三说，他“在我所读到的内容中，没有看到任何会引起关注的内容。”柯比说，国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀“对米利主席和他正在做的工作充满信任和信心。”
Biden has 'great confidence' in Milley after secret actions in Trump's final months
President Joe Biden on Wednesday expressed "great confidence" in his top military adviser, Army Gen. Mark Milley,after revelations hemade secret calls to Chinese counterparts in PresidentDonald Trump's final days in office -- and as a former official told ABC News -- Milley wasn't acting alone.
"I have great confidence in Gen. Milley," Biden told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, during an event at the White House.
The president's defense of Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump and now under Biden, came a day after reports that aforthcoming bookwould reveal behind-the-scenes actions that Milley took to avoid war withChinaor Trump launching a nuclear strike.
But Milley was not the only top defense official to send a message to China during Trump's final days in office, a former senior Pentagon official told ABC News.
Rather, he was actually following the lead of then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the official said.
Milley's Oct. 30 conversation with his Chinese counterpart, first reported in the new book "Peril," by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, was meant to allay Chinese fears that Trump was planning a secret attack ahead of the presidentialelection. It was part of a coordinated effort started a week earlier by Esper, the former official said.
The outreach came as intelligence reports suggested the Chinese were increasingly concerned that Trump would launch a military strike on China.
Esper instructed another top Pentagon official, a civilian, to convey a message from Esper to his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, to assure him the U.S. had no intention of attacking China, the former official said.
"We saw indications the Chinese were over-reacting to rhetoric coming out of D.C.," the former official said. "We conveyed that everything is under control, we have no plans (to attack). We didn't want a misperception and misunderstanding or whatever, and we end up in some type of confrontation that leads to conflict."
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff followed up this outreach with the call to his own counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People's Liberation Army. Esper and Milley coordinated their actions, the former official said.
"The notion that somehow Milley was rogue on diplomacy is just completely wrong," the former official said. "It's not how it happened. It began with (Esper) trying to make sure the United States didn't end up at some needless confrontation with the Chinese weeks before the election."
Esper and Milley, however, did agree not to inform U.S. national security adviser Robert O'Brien or anybody else at the White House about the conversation, according to the former official.
Woodward and Costa also reported that, after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, Milley feared Trump could "go rogue" andworried that he couldstoke military conflict to cling to power and derail the peaceful transfer of power.
On Jan. 8, Milley called Li and assured him the United States was "100 percent steady" and not on the brink of collapse or war, despite the unrest in Washington, according to "Peril," which ABC News obtained ahead of its Sept. 21 release.
During Milley's October call with Li, Woodward and Costa reported, Milley pledged to provide the Chinese a heads up if the U.S. did plan to attack. But the former official cast doubt on whether Milley actually made that promise.
The official portrayed the call in a more mundane light, portraying it instead as an effort, through commonly used channels, to prevent any misunderstanding that would lead the Chinese to act as if an American attack was coming.
A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that Milley's conversations with his foreign military counterparts, including the Chinese, take place "regularly" and "remain vital to improving mutual understanding of U.S. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict."
"His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability," the spokesman, Col. Dave Butler, said, not denying the reported details of the call.
The calls, Butler said, were "staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense" and other federal government agencies.
Woodward and Costa also reported that, on Jan. 8 -- two days after the Capitol riot -- Milley convened a meeting at the Pentagon with military officials responsible for relaying orders for a military or nuclear strike and made clear he "must be directly involved" with the process of launching a nuclear weapon. While the authors reported the meeting was unscheduled, the former Pentagon official told ABC News the gathering was, in fact, one that had been regularly scheduled.
Butler, the spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the meeting had taken place "in light of media reporting."
"Gen. Milley frequently conducts meetings with uniformed leaders across the Services to ensure all leaders are aware of current issues," Butler said, referring to the different military branches. "The meeting regarding nuclear weapons protocols was to remind uniformed leaders in the Pentagon of the long-established and robust procedures in light of media reporting on the subject."
In a statement Tuesday, Trump called Milley's actions "treason" and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on the general to resign.
Chris Miller, who served as acting defense secretary after Trump fired Esper in early November, said in a statement that, "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."
"Accusations that Trump was intent on starting a war with China are completely unfounded," he added.
"If Woodward's story of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 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," he wrote.
"I should note, that a lesser ranking officer accused of such behavior would immediately be relieved of duty pending a thorough and independent investigation," he wrote. " As secretary of defense, I did not and would not ever authorize such conduct."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, though, on Wednesday expressed strong support for Milley.
"I can't speak to the former president's experience with him or the former president's views of him, but this president, this current president, who follows the Constitution, who's not fomenting an insurrection, who follows the rule of law," Psaki said, "has complete confidence in Chairman Milley and him serving -- continuing to serve in his role."
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Milley has followed the Constitution.
"Gen. Milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the Constitution," its spokesman, Butler, said.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday he had seen "nothing in what I've read that would cause any concern." Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had "full trust and confidence in Chairman Milley and the job that he's doing."
