D.C. National Guard’s commanding officer says the brother of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is currently a lieutenant general, was among those concerned about the “optics” of the military response to the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
The revelations are part of a sweeping congressional inquiry into the U.S. government’s intelligence about and response to the siege of Congress that disrupted lawmakers as they certified President Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump.
Major Gen. William Walker, the commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, testified on Wednesday at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that the military’s response that day included a 2:30 p.m. phone call with key military leaders, including Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of the Army staff. Walker said the two military officials were worried about the “optics” of Guardsmen showing up at the Capitol and were concerned it might agitate the mob further.
The Army previously denied in January that Charles Flynn was involved with that phone call, though it eventually admitted that he was a participant. Flynn himself issued a statement admitting his participation. “I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending as I believed a decision was imminent from the Secretary, and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision,” he said.
He was responding to Washington Post reporting that noted how weeks earlier his brother, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, publicly suggested Trump could use “military capabilities” and “rerun” election in swing states. The report stressed that there was no indication that Charles Flynn was in any way influenced by his brother in performing his duties on Jan. 6.
“Charlie Flynn is an officer of an incredibly high integrity,” then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in a statement in January. “Multiple combat tours. He has buried a lot of people. This guy has given a lot to this country. It is incredibly awkward for this officer every day for what is going on with him and his brother, but he puts his head down in, and he is locked in to serve the Constitution.”
During his testimony on Wednesday, Walker said now-former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and Metropolitan Police Department acting Chief Robert Contee both asked the military leadership to send help during that call, with the director of D.C.’s deputy mayor and the head of its homeland security department, the chief of the U.S. Secret Service uniformed division, and other military officials were also participating. Walker testified that the Army did not inform him was authorized to send help until after 5 p.m. that day, though Walker said he had a quick reaction force ready to go hours before.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked Walker who was on the call, to which he said, “Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn” was among them, though he quickly corrected himself to say he meant his brother Charles.
Walker said Piatt was on the call too and “there were other senior civilian leaders from the United States Army and other high-ranking general officers were on the call as well.” Klobuchar asked if he remembered “who was mostly talking about the optics … and their concern about that.” Walker replied that “who was talking about optics were Gen. Flynn and Gen. Piatt, and they both said it wouldn’t be in their best military advice to advise the secretary of the Army to have uniformed Guards members at the Capitol during the election confirmation.”
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff told Walker that “you had seen the requisite authorities granted for the D.C. Guard in a matter of minutes in the past, in this case, it took over three hours, and you stated that you believed it was a combination of political concerns and optical concerns that led to that delay.”
“I don’t think it was so much political. Let me focus on the optics, because that’s what I heard. The word ‘optics’ and the word that having a uniformed presence at the Capitol could enflame the protesters,” Walker said of “senior leaders” such as Flynn, Piatt, and others, adding, “They got back to me saying … that it wouldn’t be their best military advice to send uniformed Guardsmen because they didn’t like the optics and they had also said they thought it could inflame. What they wanted to do was send Guardsmen to relieve police officers in the city so more police could get to the Capitol.”
Before the 2:30 p.m. call that day, Walker spoke with Sund at 1:49 p.m. Walker said, “It was an urgent plea” from Sund, “and his voice was cracking, and he was serious, he needed help right then and there, every available Guardsman.” Walker said he passed this along to Army leadership during the call shortly thereafter, “and during that call, Chief Sund pleaded to have National Guard support at the Capitol immediately.” Walker said that was “reinforced” by Contee and quoted him as saying, “We need them there right now. The Capitol will be breached.”
Robert Salesses, the acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, also testified on Wednesday, telling senators, “Gen. Piatt told me yesterday that he didn’t say anything about optics.”
In response, Klobuchar said she thought what Walker was talking about “is the general concern about was that they were more concerned about how this would appear and it was in their best advice — and I guess what bears out his testimony is they did not send the National Guard there for hours, they didn’t give the authorization for him as he waited with his troops to go over to the Capitol.”
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Salesses argued that Piatt “is not a decision-maker” and said the only decision-makers on Jan. 6 were then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and McCarthy. He said the “chain of command” went from Miller to McCarthy to Walker.
Walker replied that “there were people in the room with me on that call who heard what they heard.”
