GOP lawmaker says 'lot more to' Milley China call

A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is seeking records related to calls from Gen. Mark Milley, the top U.S. military officer, to his Chinese counterpart in the turbulent final months of Donald Trump's presidency.

Milley was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 2019 by Trump and has remained in the position in Biden's administration. Both Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have said they have confidence in Milley as some Republicans in Congress have called for his firing.

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the panel investigating the Jan 6 insurrection, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that he believes that there is "there is a lot more to the story, and that's why I think it's important for the January 6 committee to deal with." He said it will also be important for Congress to hear from Milley, who is scheduled to testify in the House Armed Services Committee this month.

"I think instead of jumping to saying things like, he needs to resign, he needs to be fired, based on a leaked excerpt of a book when there's more people with more information," Kinzinger said, lawmakers should "get the full answers before we start jumping to making it political."

Milley believed the president suffered a mental decline after the election, agreeing with a view shared by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a phone call they had Jan. 8, according to officials. The chairs of the House panel, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Thursday that they had already asked for records related to the call, which Milley's spokesman has said were intended to convey "reassurance" to the Chinese military and were in line with his responsibilities as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The statement from the leaders of the House panel, created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the insurrection, comes as the committee is reviewing thousands of pages of documents requested from multiple federal agencies and technology companies about the insurrection and its origins.