(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Defense Department has claimed that it has no records of former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley labelling conservative media outlets Newsmax and The Epoch Times as domestic terrorist threats—an event documented in Pulitzer Prize-winner Bob Woodward’s book, Peril.
“The Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JS), conducted a search of their records systems based on the information provided in your request. After thorough searches of the electronic records and files of JS, no records of the kind you described could be identified,” the DOD told Headline USA on March 4, more than two years after this reporter filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the Gen. Milley notes referenced in Woodward’s book.
According to Woodward and co-author Robert Costa, Gen. Milley labeled Newsmax and The Epoch Times as terrorist threats while writing in his notebook three days after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising.
“What is this amorphous thing that just happened on the 6th? Who are these people? … Extreme Tea Party, QAnon, Patriot Movement, We the People Movement, Nazis, Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers, Newsmax, Epoch [Times]. Big Threat: Domestic Terrorism,” Milley reportedly wrote in his notebook on Jan. 9, 2021.
When Woodward’s book was published in September 2021, it caused a stir in the conservative media.
Gen. Milley denied the report when pressed on the matter by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind.
Mark Milley says he doesn't remember calling conservative media outlets The Epoch Times and Newsmax "domestic terrorists" pic.twitter.com/qPuuRd84kz
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 29, 2021
“Do your notes about Jan. 6 reference both Epoch Times and Newsmax on a list of domestic terrorists?” Banks asked Milley during a September 2021 congressional hearing.
“I’m not recalling this conversation at all,” Milley said of Woodward’s book, to which Banks replied: “It’s in the book.”
“It may be in the book,” Milley responded. “I’m not recalling a conversation about Newsmax, Epoch Times, or . . .”
“Do you have a notebook that lists Newsmax and Epoch Times as domestic terrorists as recounted by the Bob Woodward book ‘Peril’?” Banks repeated. “Or is Bob Woodward lying to us in the book?”
Milley demurred.
“I don’t know,” Milley said. “I don’t recall any conversation about Epoch Times . . .”
Milley said he doesn’t believe Epoch or Newsmax are domestic terror threats when asked by Banks. He also agreed to provide his notes to Banks, though it’s not clear if he ever did that.
At the time, this reporter asked Woodward and Costa about Milley’s response to their book. Costa responded that they stand by their reporting.
Headline USA has called and emailed the Pentagon’s FOIA liason to seek mediation services for its records request—this publication has concerns that officials have not adequately searched for Milley’s notes—but has not received a response as of the publication of this article.
As Newsmax noted in the wake of Woodward’s book publishing, the Pulitzer winner has been dogged by allegations of fabrication in the past. In his 1987 book Veil: Secret Wars of the CIA, Woodward claimed he interviewed William J. Casey, Reagan’s CIA director, on his hospital deathbed.
“Agency security officials said Woodward would never have gotten access to the secure hospital room, and the Casey family said Woodward’s claims were ludicrous,” Newsmax reported. “Casey had a massive stroke and was unable to communicate with family members.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
