Milley reveals he spoke to Woodward, other authors for books on Trump presidency

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley on Tuesday told lawmakers he spoke with several authors for their recent books on the Trump administration, including veteran journalist Bob Woodward for his book “Peril,” which has triggered enormous scrutiny of the four-star general in recent weeks.

In addition to speaking to Woodward for “Peril,” which was co-authored by fellow Washington Post journalist Robert Costa, Milley said he also spoke to Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig for their book “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year” and to Michael Bender for “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost.”

When asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) whether he was “accurately represented” in the books, Milley responded, “I haven’t read any of the books, I don’t know.”

“I’ve seen press reporting of it. I haven’t read the books,” Milley added.

Blackburn then asked Milley to read the books and “let us know if you are accurately presented and portrayed,” to which Milley said he would.

Milley has been heavily scrutinized in the past several weeks after “Peril” revealed several of his actions in the final days of President Trump’s time in office, including calls with his Chinese counterpart and his decision to call a meeting of senior military officials to review the procedures for launching deadly weapons.

Earlier in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Milley stressed that the calls to China were generated by “concerning intelligence” that caused Americans officials to believe the Chinese were worried about an attack on them by the U.S., which he assured them would not happen.

In his most extensive public remarks addressing the revelations, Milley also expanded on a phone call that he received from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) later that same day, during which she asked about Trump’s ability to launch nuclear weapons following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.

“I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process. She was concerned and made various personal references characterizing the president,” Milley said.