For much of Tuesday, CNN was fixated on claims from Bob Woodward’s new book that Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley had committed treason by promising China that he would warn them if the United States planned to attack. It even weaseled into their California recall election coverage where special correspondent Jamie Gangel openly defended Milley, suggesting he was just trying to protect the country and critics were acting on politics.
But in the previous hour, Prime Time host Chris Cuomo bucked the network’s notion, questioning the impropriety. He even brought on anti-Trumper Alexander Vindman (yes, the guy who tried to get President Trump kicked out of office) to call for Milley to resign.
“He's looking at Donald Trump. He's worried about January 6. And he also knows that the Chinese have been rattled by Trump's behavior, and by his failure to concede, and he is making sure every precaution is in place,” Gangel gushed for the lawless General.
Election coverage host Jake Tapper questioned her on the criticism Milley received and Gangel tried to downplay it:
TAPPER: In the book, it speculates that this news might prompt some individuals to criticize Milley for saying, for suggesting that Milley overstepped his authority, that he was doing something he doesn't have the right to do.
GANGEL: Correct. Some people may but.
After Tapper mentioned that Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) had called for Milley to resign, Gangel scoffed: “I think there are going to be some politics involved here and I don't think Marco Rubio has read the book yet. I suggest people read the book and look at it in context.”
She even defended how Milley had violated the principle of a civilian-controlled military and usurped control from Trump:
It is true that he is not as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the chain of command, however he is the most senior military official. He is the adviser to the president. He has tremendous authority and what he was doing here was making sure the guard rails were up, that there wasn't some kind of accident.
But while Cuomo did get his shots in on Trump by asserting “we were closer to a real destruction of our democracy than was even apparent,” he wasn’t so sure about Milley’s virtue.
“Milley was holding secret back-channel communications with his Chinese counterpart … Milley was reportedly going around the commander-in-chief, taking secret action to protect nuclear weapons. When is that okay? When is it not,” he wondered.
He went on to read a tweet from Vindman where he called on Milley to resign immediately:
Moves like that had my next guest, retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman tweeting. Here’s one of them: “If this is true, General Milley must resign. He usurped civilian authority, broke chain of command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It's an extremely dangerous precedent. You can't walk away from that.”
Vindman didn’t believe the part about making promises to China and thought it cast a “shadow” on the rest of the claims. But he did find them “troubling” nonetheless and found Milley to be “acting without any oversight, exceeding his authorities, without civilian control.” And warned of the “slippery slope” it would cause.
This was reminiscent of just this past January when Cuomo bucked CNN’s reporting that President Biden planned to restart vaccine distribution “from scratch,” saying he didn’t “buy” it. And just last week, help to debunked State Department claims they helped to get an American family out of Afghanistan.
CNN’s praises for a general that allegedly committed treason was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Amazon and SimpliSafe. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The relevant portions of the transcript are below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
September 14, 2021
9:00:38 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Now we know the truth. We were closer to a real destruction of our democracy than was even apparent. Trump was considering crazy actions that threatened national security. Concerns that went all the way to the top at the Pentagon.
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, both of the Washington Post, write in their new book Peril that general Mark Milley – you’ve gotten to flow him more recently in politics, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, single-handedly took action twice, once right before the election and then after January 6 to block Trump from going rogue. To limit him from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or even launching nuclear weapons.
Now, the question to start with is, why? Milley was reportedly very concerned, concern shared by others in the administration and Congress, according to the book, that a desperate Trump had gone into a serious mental decline.
In addition, to consoling his Chinese counterpart that the United States democracy was intact and no military action was imminent, the General also called a secret Pentagon meeting two days after the insurrection.
(…)
9:17:40 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: Look, you’re going to have to read into more of this Woodward and Costa book and see what's interesting to you.
To me, it's about how things happen. It's not enough about character assessment. Everybody knows Trump had unstable qualities to him, an erratic nature to him, a very kind of spontaneous nature that can be very upsetting to people who are used to leaders who think before they speak and act. But there are real questions about what was done here by Trump, for Trump and to stop Trump. Namely, the man who is still the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Woodward and Costa report that General Mark Milley was holding secret back channel communications with his Chinese counterpart, even going so far as making promises to a hostile nation. Then there are the parts of the book where Milley was reportedly going around the commander-in-chief, taking secret action to protect nuclear weapons. When is that okay? When is it not? Milley reportedly told senior military officials not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.
Moves like that had my next guest, retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman tweeting. Here’s one of them: “If this is true, General Milley must resign. He usurped civilian authority, broke chain of command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It's an extremely dangerous precedent. You can't walk away from that.”
(…)
CUOMO: Do you believe Milley did that? Let's start there.
ALEXANDER VINDMAN: Well, first of all, I find the reporting on China to be frankly absurd. I cannot imagine a situation in which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Offers to warn an adversary of an imminent attack. So, I find that kind of casting a shadow over the rest of the reporting.
And that's why I said, if the reporting is accurate, if the senior-most military officer in the United States army -- or in the United States military acted without any oversight, without any accountability, I find that deeply troubling. It's doing to me what seems like the wrong thing for seemingly the right reason. There's not a way to get away with that. There's not a way to walk away from that unscathed.
I just finished writing a book about doing the right thing in the right way. And this to me screams of doing the wrong thing.
(…)
VINDMAN: Ultimately, the American public held the President accountable and removed him from office by voting in a new president. What we can't have is we can't have senior military officer acting without any oversight, exceeding his authorities, without civilian control. Again, this is a sacrosanct principle. What happens if, in a different situation, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs acts in what he believes is his own best interests and we find ourselves in --
CUOMO: Right.
VINDMAN: -- a slippery slope of where many other countries find themselves. I think, simply put --
CUOMO: Now – Go ahead. Go ahead.
VINDMAN: I was going to say, simply put, even if he did this for the right reasons, he did the wrong thing. And now he is toxic. He’s a chairman that has been criticized for the Lafayette -- marching through Lafayette Park. On several occasions there has been reporting indicating that he was concerned. He didn't voice the concerns at moments where his voice would have been critical, potentially put a check on the President. Instead, now we have reporting coming out about how he worked behind the scenes to control the President. That's troubling to me.
(…)
California Recall: Special Election Coverage
10:35:11 p.m. Eastern
JAMIE GANGEL: He's looking at Donald Trump. He's worried about January 6. And he also knows that the Chinese have been rattled by Trump's behavior, and by his failure to concede, and he is making sure every precaution is in place.
JAKE TAPPER: In the book, it speculates that this news might prompt some individuals to criticize Milley for saying, for suggesting that Milley overstepped his authority, that he was doing something he doesn't have the right to do.
GANGEL: Correct. Some people may but.
TAPPER: Marco Rubio called for his resignation, I think.
GANGEL: I think there are going to be some politics involved here and I don't think Marco Rubio has read the book yet. I suggest people read the book and look at it in context.
It is true that he is not as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the chain of command, however he is the most senior military official. He is the adviser to the president. He has tremendous authority and what he was doing here was making sure the guard rails were up, that there wasn't some kind of accident.
(…)
