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[0] Allegations of potential treasonous behavior have been leveled at General Mark Millie, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
[1] We'll talk to former military officials about the allegations and what they expect will happen next.
[2] If those reports are accurate, there's no reasonable defense that he could provide to justify those discussions.
[3] I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Friday, September 17th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] As refugees from Afghanistan have arrived in the U .S., northern Virginia is one of the regions tasked with housing them.
[6] We'll take an exclusive look at how local officials in Virginia are handling the influx of migrants.
[7] It's secrecy that's masking pandemonium.
[8] And as public drug use and fatal overdoses increase in Washington State, police are sounding the alarm about the state's new drug law, which they say is almost impossible to enforce and contributes to the vicious cycle of addiction.
[9] What's in the new law, and how is it impacting law enforcement efforts?
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
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[16] A bold allegation from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book, book, Peril, accuses sitting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Millie, of actively undermining President Trump during the last months of his administration.
[17] According to the bombshell new book, Millie made phone calls to foreign military counterparts in China, promising to warn them in the event that President Trump planned an attack.
[18] If true, his actions would represent a radical subversion of the civilian chain of command.
[19] John, you talked to some former military officials for their insights and perspective on Millie and the allegations, who did you talk to and what did you learn?
[20] Yeah, well, one of the officials I spoke with was Chris Miller, who was Acting Secretary of Defense from November 2020 to January 2021.
[21] He worked closely with Millie during the last three months of Donald Trump's presidency, which was actually during the time of some of these allegations.
[22] I asked Miller about his working relationship with General Millie, and he said it was positive and professional.
[23] He also said Trump and Millie's relationship was business -like.
[24] When I asked him about the allegations against General Millie, he said he'd be surprised if they were actually true.
[25] Miller said calling foreign counterparts is not unusual at all, but if the accusations of working to undermine the president are true, he said that's extremely serious.
[26] He noted that he was calling his foreign counterparts, and that is routine.
[27] There's nothing wrong with that.
[28] A thing that is troubling is if the body of the calls as reflected in the Woodward book is accurate, then that's, That's completely inappropriate.
[29] There needs to be a thorough and independent investigation.
[30] If that's true that General Millie said something like that, of that nature, you know, we're talking about probably the greatest civil military crisis since, you know, MacArthur threatened to attack China during a Korean War.
[31] And you know how that ended.
[32] President Truman fired him.
[33] Miller also pushed back on claims that President Trump needed safeguards when it came to national security, saying he got a bad rap because he refused to use.
[34] political speech.
[35] Here's the one criticism people I think have all too often is he spoke in a business language as opposed to this kind of dark art of national security speak, which is language all its own.
[36] But I thought his instincts were right.
[37] Cash Patel served as chief of staff for Miller while he was acting Secretary of Defense.
[38] He also stressed the difference between a routine call and the violation of chain of command.
[39] So people are muddying the waters.
[40] If he wants to call his counterpart in China to talk to him about, you know, non -operational business, that's fine.
[41] What you're not supposed to do is use that phone call authority and privilege to talk about something that's outside of your legal obligations, your legal authorities, and that is acting in the chain of command and discussing command operations.
[42] I also spoke with retired U .S. Army Colonel Doug McGregor, who's served as senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense.
[43] I asked him if he was confident that President Biden would order the release of the transcripts of Millie's call with his Chinese counterpart.
[44] No, I'm not confident that anything will be done at all.
[45] In fact, my expectation at this point is that nothing will change.
[46] Millie will be retained in his position.
[47] Nothing will be discussed any further by the White House.
[48] And they will let the left on the hill, their friends on the left and others, including the controlled right for the Republicans, bill around and say whatever they can.
[49] care to, but I don't think anything will happen.
[50] The president is the commander -in -chief.
[51] He calls the shots.
[52] He's judge and jury in this case.
[53] So this is all on Biden?
[54] Yes.
[55] Like Miller, McGregor also stressed the significance of the allegations.
[56] If Eisenhower were the president and what you say is true, Millie would be summoned to the White House and he would be removed from his position.
[57] then there would be a decision by legal authorities and advisers to the president regarding whether Millie should be placed under House arrest pending court martial.
[58] That's how serious these infractions would be if they turn out to be accurate.
[59] President Biden defended Millie on Thursday, saying he has great confidence in the general.
[60] So we'll see if McGregor ends up being right about what happens or doesn't happen next.
[61] Right, we'll see.
[62] Coming up, an exclusive look at how the federal government is handling refugees from Afghanistan.
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[66] As the U .S. evacuates Afghanistan following the Afghan military's effective, surrender to the Taliban.
[67] The Biden administration has flown thousands of Afghans to the U .S. Many landed at Dulles Airport just outside of D .C. But what happens after that?
[68] Joining us from the area for some exclusive reporting is Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Roziak.
[69] So, Luke, what's going on on the ground in Virginia?
[70] John, essentially it's secrecy that's masking pandemonium.
[71] Some of the migrants were taken to the Dulles Expo Center and apparently to hotels around the airport.
[72] Others are being housed in military bases throughout Virginia and other states, including Quantico.
[73] Even top local officials don't really know how many there are or what's happening to them.
[74] Fairfax County supervisor Pat Herody hasn't been able to find out.
[75] I looked into this and found that one temporary facility they used was a Dick sporting goods that went out of business in Fair Oaks Mall.
[76] A big black fence was put up and Afghans were living inside earlier this week.
[77] So in the middle of a suburban shopping mall?
[78] Yeah, a pretty big mall where I shop with my family, right next to a Dave and Busters and an ice cream store.
[79] Okay.
[80] And then suddenly on Tuesday afternoon, big white trucks pulled up and started unloading things from inside the store.
[81] And a Department of Defense subcontractor who was sitting on a folding chair out front said she was the closest thing to an official on site and that the migrants had been moved to somewhere else earlier that day.
[82] I haven't really been able to find out where.
[83] Take a listen.
[84] Today, I believe, will be the last day that we're doing it because everything is.
[85] and shut down, so it should go back to whoever just owns the door.
[86] So the requirement of fence is not operating out of here now.
[87] Not after today, as well.
[88] So that was run by a DOD subcontractor.
[89] So the federal government is kind of warehousing these migrants in closed -off facilities.
[90] Well, many of them are actually coming into the community, including hundreds that have flooded hospitals seeking various medical treatments.
[91] At one point, authorities lost track of a baby.
[92] And Americans were being turned away.
[93] from medical treatment at their neighborhood hospital because it was too busy treating Afghans.
[94] Now, despite some facilities being run by the DOD, a lot of this has fallen to really anyone who would do what the federal government was not doing.
[95] An obscure local board with 12 employees found itself trying to pick up the slack.
[96] Fairfax County itself has spent $300 ,000 fairing the migrants around, taking them to hospitals and things like that.
[97] County executive Brian Hill said, it's, quote, been very difficult to even get with the federal government on what the next steps are.
[98] So the federal government brought them to Virginia then sort of left others with the cost.
[99] Yeah, and it's not just a financial burden.
[100] The Virginia Department of Health has put out an alert that Virginians who travel to certain hotels or hospitals or to the airport could have been exposed to measles.
[101] Five migrants were diagnosed with the disease.
[102] This is a heavily democratic area, but it sounds like a lot of local leaders are not pleased with the Biden administration's handling of this.
[103] What are federal officials from the state saying?
[104] Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement that he will, quote, continue to do everything you can to ensure that Virginia's hospitals, many of which are already strained with COVID -19 patients, have the resources they need to care for our communities.
[105] Okay.
[106] But he also had some compliments for the migrants.
[107] Quote, good news is they're taking the coronavirus vaccines at a higher rate than Virginians.
[108] Okay.
[109] Well, Luke, Luke, thanks for the reporting.
[110] Anytime.
[111] That was Daily Wire investigative reporter, Luke Roziak.
[112] Police in Washington State are struggling to arrest people for drug possession thanks to a new law that some officers are calling unenforceable.
[113] Meanwhile, drug overdose deaths are spiking in the state.
[114] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty, did some digging on this issue and has the details for us.
[115] So, Marade, Washington police basically can't arrest people for drugs anymore.
[116] Why not?
[117] Well, a new law passed this year prohibits police from arresting someone for drug possession until the third time they catch them.
[118] The first two times, they have to give the person a warning and contact information for rehab.
[119] The exception is if it's a large quantity of drugs suggesting a connection to drug trafficking, then police can arrest the person without the two warnings.
[120] Here's the problem, though.
[121] It's essentially impossible for police to know for sure how many warnings a person has been given because there's no statewide database for drug warnings.
[122] So police could ostensibly keep catching someone with drugs and then letting them go.
[123] That's correct.
[124] If someone is caught in Seattle one day, for example, and Spokane the next day, there's no way for police to know.
[125] Now, on the local level, police have cobbled together their own local databases to try to comply with this law.
[126] But outside of their immediate areas, they still have no idea who's been warned and who hasn't.
[127] And when did this policy go into effect?
[128] It went into effect May of this year.
[129] And this happened because Washington State's Supreme Court ruled in February that the old law, which classified drug possession as a felony, was unconsored.
[130] constitutional.
[131] So from about February to May, drugs were actually essentially decriminalized until the legislature passed the looser drug law.
[132] So presumably, the intent is a more compassionate approach to drug addicts?
[133] That's exactly right.
[134] State lawmakers who supported the new law hoped that it would steer drug users into treatment rather than the criminal justice system.
[135] But police chiefs in Washington state told me that the reality on the ground is much different.
[136] Because cops are forced to let people go in most cases, the substance abuse cycle continues.
[137] In the vast majority of cases, drug users are not calling the rehab number police give them when they issue a warning.
[138] Spokane Police Chief Craig Maitle pointed out that in Spokane County under the old drug law, people who got caught with drugs actually got the felony removed from their record if they agreed to participate in the county drug court's rehab program.
[139] What are the trends in terms of drug use in the state?
[140] Do we have any data on that?
[141] We do.
[142] It shows that drug use is up.
[143] Public drug use is rampant and most concerning fatal drug overdoses are also up, especially in places like Seattle.
[144] There were 418 overdose deaths in the first three months of 2021, compared to 378 in the same time period last year.
[145] Spokane County Sheriff Ozzy Nezovich told me police are now aware of children as young as sixth grade using marijuana at school.
[146] Violent crime and property crime are also up in Washington State as drug users try to generate a little revenue to fund their addictions.
[147] Also, the drug law is just one of the challenges is facing police in Washington this year.
[148] In May, the Seattle police chief said that 260 officers, about 20 % of the force, have left in the last year and a half.
[149] So we have a situation here where the compassionate intention behind the new drug law might not be producing the outcome lawmakers hoped for.
[150] All the police chiefs I spoke to agreed that they want to see drug users get into treatment, but how to get them there is the issue Washington State is still grappling with.
[151] Marade, thanks for reporting.
[152] Of course, thanks, Georgia.
[153] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marita Lorty.
[154] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[155] On Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott shut down six ports of entry from Mexico to stop a surge in illegal border crossings.
[156] In a statement, Abbott said, the sheer negligence of the Biden administration to do their job and secure the border is appalling.
[157] France announced it killed an Islamic state leader who headed up a 2017 operation that killed four U .S. service members in Africa.
[158] If confirmed, the success would be an achievement for France in its effort to fight against terrorism.
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