Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Confirm Milley Agreed With Pelosi Assessment Trump Was Crazy

Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last year he agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that former President Donald Trump was crazy while he pledged that the countrys nuclear codes were safe during his tenure, according to transcripts of his testimony before lawmakers last year.

The transcript is part of a mass database of evidence released Sunday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. The documents include detailed accounts from witness interviews, emails between Trump attorneys and text messages from those working in the White House as the former presidents term ended.

The revelation that Milley agreed Trump was crazy was first reported in September in a book about his administration published by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. The transcripts, however, offer more detail about Milleys thinking as Joint Chiefs chairman under Trump.

When pressed by the House select committee on Pelosis concern about Trumps access to the nations nuclear weapons, Milley said he assured the speaker such codes were safe.

Its a very rigorous system, Milley told the panel, adding he said similarly when speaking with Pelosi to assure her that our nuclear systems and our strategic systems are very secure, that [it] is extraordinarily unlikely that youre going to have an accidental, illegal or immoral launch of nuclear weapons.

The panel went on to confirm that Pelosi said: You know hes crazy, dont you, and that Milley agreed with that assessment.

Thats right, Milley replied to investigators.

An extraordinary moment in American history. A speaker of the House asks the chairman of the joint chiefs if the nuclear codes are safe because she fears the president is crazy and liable to make a deadly decision to stay in power.

From Milley's testimony re: Jan. 8, 2021 call. pic.twitter.com/Md0tKacysI

Robert Costa (@costareports) January 2, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Robert Costa","author_url":"https://twitter.com/costareports","cache_age":86400,"description":"An extraordinary moment in American history. A speaker of the House asks the chairman of the joint chiefs if the nuclear codes are safe because she fears the president is crazy and liable to make a deadly decision to stay in power. From Milley's testimony re: Jan. 8, 2021 call. pic.twitter.com/Md0tKacysI Robert Costa (@costareports) January 2, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":954,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FleZQLjWQAEySne.png:large","thumbnail_width":1066,"title":"Robert Costa on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1609924279818412034","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"63b377ade4b0d6724fbe5355","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/jan-6-panel-mark-milley-trump-crazy_n_63b377ade4b0d6724fbe5355","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,nancy-pelosi,jan-6-committee,mark-a-milley,nuclear-codes","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/9e94f5e1-4ae9-4f46-8a0c-983f9d0fe5e1/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":3},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"63b377ade4b0d6724fbe5355","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Nancy Pelosi","slug":"nancy-pelosi","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/nancy-pelosi","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/nancy-pelosi","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/nancy-pelosi"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Nancy Pelosi","slug":"nancy-pelosi","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/nancy-pelosi"},{"name":"jan 6 committee","slug":"jan-6-committee","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jan-6-committee","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/jan-6-committee","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/jan-6-committee"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/jan-6-committee"},{"name":"Mark A. Milley","slug":"mark-a-milley","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/mark-a-milley","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/mark-a-milley","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/mark-a-milley"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/mark-a-milley"},{"name":"nuclear codes","slug":"nuclear-codes","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/nuclear-codes","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/nuclear-codes","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/nuclear-codes"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/nuclear-codes"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

An extraordinary moment in American history. A speaker of the House asks the chairman of the joint chiefs if the nuclear codes are safe because she fears the president is crazy and liable to make a deadly decision to stay in power.

From Milley's testimony re: Jan. 8, 2021 call. pic.twitter.com/Md0tKacysI
Robert Costa (@costareports) January 2, 2023

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Costa, who first published details of Milleys testimony, said the transcript reflected an extraordinary moment in American history.

A speaker of the House asks the chairman of the joint chiefs if the nuclear codes are safe because she fears the president is crazy and liable to make a deadly decision to stay in power, he wrote on Monday. So much of the Pelosi legacy, understandably, focuses on legislation. But her deep alarm about Trump in the final days, and the steps she took, from urgent call to Milley to pushing Pence to invoke 25th [Amendment], then moving to impeach, is a key part of it, too. She saw a system at risk.