Two of Donald Trump’s Pentagon leaders should be hauled before Congress to explain why they were slow to deploy National Guard forces as the U.S. Capitol was being overrun by the former president’s supporters, says a Democratic senator.
A Senate hearing this week drew heightened attention for revealing new details about the Defense Department’s failure to respond quickly to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, but absent among witnesses were two key Trump DOD officials at the center of the response.
Now, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters is calling for former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy to testify.
“I certainly think we need to hear from them. There’s no question,” Peters told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday night. “They were central in the discussion yesterday in the hearing.”
NATIONAL GUARD SURPRISED BY EXTENSION REQUEST AND FIND NO QANON-INSPIRED PROTESTERS
In Wednesday’s joint Senate Rules and Homeland Security Committee hearing, D.C. National Guard Chief Maj. Gen. William Walker described his frustration at the long delay he faced before he received authorization to send a waiting rapid response team with riot gear to assist overwhelmed Capitol Police.
In his opening statement, Walker described the 1:49 p.m. call with then-U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund when he first learned that the legislative hall had been breached and reinforcements were urgently needed.
“Immediately after that 1:49 p.m. call, I alerted the U.S. Army senior leadership of the request,” he told senators. “The approval for Chief Sund’s request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense and be relayed to me by Army senior leaders at 5:08 p.m., about three hours and 19 minutes later.”
But neither Miller nor McCarthy were present at the hearing to give their side of the story.
Two days after the riots, on Jan. 8, McCarthy walked into a Pentagon media room for a small, on-the-record gaggle with three journalists, including one from the Washington Examiner.
A visibly exhausted McCarthy described the frantic rush to approve and send in National Guard reinforcements.
“I was in the heat of taking back the Capitol,” he said. “We were literally running down the hall to SecDef’s office. We’re watching the TV in his office, green light, go. Move all the Guard, other states.”
The timeline released by the Department of Defense confirms the 1:49 p.m. phone call and a 2:22 p.m. call between McCarthy and District of Columbia authorities, who requested the D.C. National Guard support.
Miller then met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and McCarthy at 2:30 p.m. to discuss the request. At 3 p.m., Miller “determines all available forces of the DCNG are required,” and McCarthy alerts the DCNG to prepare “while seeking formal approval.”
As the Capitol is besieged, Walker described how D.C. National Guard members readied and waited on buses with riot gear for authorization.
According to the timeline, Miller gave verbal approval for the full 1,100 D.C. National Guard members to deploy at 3:04 p.m., and more than an hour later, at 4:18 p.m., he approved out-of-state Guard to prepare. Then, at 4:32 p.m., he authorized the National Guard to clear the Capitol grounds and establish a perimeter.
Peters again referred to Walker’s testimony.
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“It was clear, he said, he had those 150 people that he had ready to go sitting on buses. Had they shown up and started unloading from the buses, from his years of experience, that would have had a major impact on that violent mob as it was attacking the Capitol to see those soldiers disembarking off those buses,” he explained.
“Why was there a delay?” Peters asked rhetorically. “We know two individuals can give us some information, and we’re going to work to get that information. We’re just figuring out exactly what process we’ll go through in order to get it.”
