A deputy to then-President Donald Trump’s acting secretary of defense held a call with his Chinese counterpart two days before the now-controversial call by Gen. Mark Milley, undercutting criticism that the Joint Chiefs chairman was out of line.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, in a previously scheduled call on January 6, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for China Chad Sbragia spoke to his Chinese counterpart, in what one former US official described as a routine exchange leading into the impending transition between two presidential administrations. In the days since the revelation of Milley’s January 8 call, as well as one he had in October, Sbragia’s former boss, then-Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, has been among the fiercest critics of Milley. In a statement on Wednesday, Miller accused Milley of a „disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination“ that violated „the inviolable principle of civilian control of the military,“ and has insisted that he „did not and would not ever authorize“ such engagements. Yet in an interview with CNN on Friday, Miller acknowledged he likely would not have been informed of such routine engagements that either his office or Milley would have had with China. Miller also clarified that his criticism of Milley wasn’t over the call he had in January, but the one he had in October 2020, under then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. „I don’t care about the coordination calls. It’s totally appropriate for him to call his counterparts,“ Miller told CNN in a text message on Friday. Milley’s calls are detailed in „Peril,“ a forthcoming book by the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. One former US official briefed on Milley’s call said that it was „implausible that [Milley’s call] would have been done without“ Sbragia’s knowledge. Moreover, this person said, such a routine call likely wouldn’t have triggered notification of the defense secretary — a fact Miller confirmed to CNN on Friday. „The verbal brief I got back seemed pretty innocuous,“ the former official added, but said, „Milley wasn’t always the best at doing great coordination.
