Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last year that he agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that former President Donald Trump was “crazy” for promising that the country’s nuclear codes would be secured in his time. mandate, according to transcripts of his testimony before lawmakers last year.
The transcript is part of a massive database of evidence released Sunday by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol. The documents include detailed accounts of interviews with witnesses, emails between Trump’s lawyers and text messages from those who worked in the White House late in the former president’s tenure.
The revelation that Milley agreed that Trump was “crazy” was first reported in September in a book about his administration published by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. However, the transcripts offer more detail about Milley’s thinking as chairman of the joint chiefs under Trump.
Pressed by the House Select Committee over Pelosi’s concern about Trump’s access to the nation’s nuclear weapons, Milley said he assured the speaker that such codes were secure.
“It’s a very rigorous system,” Milley told the jury, adding that he said the same when he spoke to Pelosi “to assure her that our nuclear systems and our strategic systems are very secure, that [it] you are extremely unlikely to have an accidental, illegal or unethical launch of nuclear weapons.
The panel went on to confirm that Pelosi said, “You know he’s crazy, right,” and that Milley agreed with that assessment.
“Exactly,” Milley told investigators.
Costa, who first published details of Milley’s testimony, said the transcript reflected an “extraordinary moment in American history.”
“A House speaker is asking the chairman of the joint chiefs if the nuclear codes are safe because he fears the president is insane and might make a deadly decision to stay in power,” he wrote Monday. “Much of Pelosi’s legacy, understandably, has focused on legislation. But her deep alarm about Trump in recent days and the steps he’s taken, from urgent phone calls to Milley to pushing Pence to invoke the 25th. [Amendment], so moving to layoff is also a key part of it. He saw a system in danger”.
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