The head of the F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed on Thursday that the CEO of Boeing listened in on a phone call between himself and then-President-elect Trump, but said no decisions were made during the conversation.
Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan told lawmakers that he and Trump met for the first time in December along with a number of other senior Defense Department personnel. The two then had two follow-up phone calls: one on Jan. 9 and a second on Jan. 17. Trump allowed Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, which manufacturers the rival F/A-18 Super Hornet, to listen in on the second call, Bogdan said.
“The discussions that we had were all predecisional. There were no decisions made during those conversations. And it was my belief that President-elect Trump at the time was trying to gain more information about the F-35 and its affordability,” Bogdan said at a hearing of the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Subcommittee.
Bogdan said the conversations laid the groundwork for the two reviews now underway at the Pentagon. The first looks at what affordability measures have been taken and will be taken on the Lockheed Martin F-35 program and the second requires the Navy to look at what’s the best fleet mix of F-35Cs and F/A-18 Super Hornets. The C is the Navy version, capable of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers.
Bogdan was responding to a Bloomberg report on Thursday morning, which quoted analysts criticizing the phone calls for skipping the chain of command.
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, and chairman of the subcommittee, however, said he has no issue with the president speaking directly with Bogdan.
“There’s been some media reports that the president has called you directly and that that’s a break in the chain of command. I know having spoken to you personally that you’re up to the task and I’m glad he picks up the phone and calls you,” Turner said.
