Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In the wake of the Capitol riot Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took covert steps to prevent President Trump from potentially ordering a military strike or launching nuclear weapons, a CNN preview of Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book "Peril," reveals.
Driving the news: According to Woodward and Costa, Milley believed the president had gone into "serious mental decline" following the election and was worried he might "go rogue."
- On Jan. 8, Milley called senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center to a secret meeting in his Pentagon office.
- There, Milley ordered those present not to take orders unless he was involved.
- "No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I'm part of that procedure," Milley said, per the book.
Of note: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued a statement Tuesday calling on President Biden to fire Milley following the revelations, saying Milley had "worked to actively undermine the sitting Commander in Chief."