The armed forces come under scrutiny as law enforcement arrests insurrectionists with military backgrounds

The memo, signed by all eight members of the Joint Chiefs, led by Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, called the Jan. 6 attack “a violent riot,” which was “a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process.”

“The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection,” the Joint Chiefs wrote. “We must embody the values and ideals of the Nation. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law.”

FEW MILITARY RIOTERS FOUND: Of the thousands of Trump supporters who gathered in Washington, so far, only a few had any record of military service.

• Former Senior Airman Ashli Babbitt, a 14-year Air Force veteran who endorsed QAnon conspiracy theories, was fatally shot by Capitol Police as she attempted to climb through a window at the entrance to the House chamber.
• Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Brock, who was seen brandishing zip-tie handcuffs, was arrested Sunday in Texas. He claimed he found the zip tie cuffs and intended to return them to Capitol Police.
• Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, aka Jake Angeli, aka the QAnon Shaman, was easily identified as the shirtless man in neo-nazi tattoos and sporting a fur-lined headdress with horns and face paint. He served in the Navy for two years.
• Ft. Bragg officials are investigating what role active-duty Army Capt. Emily Rainey may have played in the violent protest. Rainey, who led a group of 100 protesters to the rally, had resigned her commission after receiving a career-ending letter of reprimand for her actions at an earlier protest in the Fort Bragg area, according to CBS. She was due to leave the Army in April. “I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey told the Associated Press on Sunday.
• And Adam Newbold, a retired Navy SEAL, is facing questions from the FBI after boasting in a Facebook video about "breaching the Capitol,” according to ABC News. The Navy confirmed Newbold is a retired reserve SEAL special warfare operator.

There was another former military member who was a victim of a vicious attack by someone in a marauding mob. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, a former New Jersey Air National Guard staff sergeant, died after being bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher.

‘A 24/7, FULL BORE, EXTENSIVE OPERATION’: The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said yesterday it has already arrested 70 people, identified an additional 100 suspects, and expects to arrest hundreds more over the coming months, as people are identified.

“The numbers are going to geometrically increase, said acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin at a news conference yesterday. “I think the scope and scale of this investigation in these cases are really unprecedented, not only in FBI history but probably DOJ history.”

“I want to stress that the FBI has a long memory and a broad reach,” said Steven D'Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, who called the arrests so far, “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“The significance of this investigation is not lost on us. This is a 24/7, full bore, extensive operation into what happened that day,” he said, adding that while many of the initial charges were misdemeanors such as trespassing, all of the accused face the potential of much more serious charges as their cases are investigated.

“Just yesterday, our office organized a strike force of very senior national security prosecutors and public corruption prosecutors,” said Sherwin. “Their only marching orders from me are to build seditious and conspiracy charges related to the most heinous acts that occurred in the Capitol. And these are significant charges that have felonies with prison terms of up to 20 years.”

Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: The House of Representatives meets at 9 a.m. to consider a single article of impeachment charging President Trump with “incitement of insurrection.” The measure seems certain to pass the House, but it faces a very uncertain future in the Senate.

Last night several House Republicans, including Wyoming’s Liz Cheney, the No. 3 GOP member, announced they would vote with Democrats to impeach.

“The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” Cheney said in a statement. “I will vote to impeach the President.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran and Republican from Illinois. “If these actions — the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch — are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?”

“To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” said Republican Rep. John Katko, a former federal prosecutor from New York. “For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this President.”

Michigan’s Fred Upton was the latest Republican to sign on. “The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next. Thus, I will vote to impeach,” he said in his statement.

PENCE REJECTS DEMAND FOR 25TH AMENDMENT: In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last night, Vice President Mike Pence rejected the call for him to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and avoid impeachment.

“As you know full well, the 25th Amendment was designed to address Presidential incapacity or disability,” Pence wrote. “Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent.”

WHERE DOES McCONNELL STAND? Last night reports circulated that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses, raising the possibility that McConnell, the most powerful man in Congress, could facilitate a quick trial in the Senate and even vote for conviction himself.

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on McConnell to reconvene the Senate in an emergency session to consider the article of impeachment, something he said is possible with the agreement of both the majority and minority leader.

TRUMP — ‘WHAT I SAID WAS TOTALLY APPROPRIATE’: Speaking to reporters before heading to Texas for a speech at the Alamo, President Trump denied his words incited the riot.

“If you read my speech, and many people have done it, and I've seen it both in the papers and in the media, on television. It's been analyzed, and people thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said.

Later in his speech, Trump said, “The impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger and division and pain.”

He did, however, denounce the rioters while accepting no responsibility for motivating the mob with false accounts of a stolen election. “We believe in respecting America's history and traditions, not tearing them down. We believe in the rule of law, not in violence or rioting.”

DEMOCRATS WAIVER ON WAIVER: Democrats in Congress are in a bind over the waiver needed for retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as defense secretary, given that he doesn’t meet the statutory requirement that he be out of uniform seven years before he qualifies as a civilian.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, members heard from two experts who gave a lot of “on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand advice,” leaving Democrats who want to give President-elect Joe Biden the Cabinet he wants, wary of granting another waiver like the one granted Jim Mattis in 2017, which passed 81 to 17 in the Senate and 268 to 151 in the House.

Senators who voted against a waiver for Mattis last time, including Tammy Duckworth, Richard Blumenthal, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren, all indicated they would oppose a waiver again but would likely vote for Austin’s confirmation if both the House and Senate approve a waiver next week.

Some comments from yesterday’s hearing:

“We are now in danger of setting a precedent after precedent with a new norm, in effect, creating the danger that the exception will swallow the rule. The reason for the principle of civilian control is not only to protect our democracy against military interference, it is to protect the military against excessive interference, political, partisan interference that may jeopardize the professionalism and effectiveness of our military,” said Blumenthal. “I have immense respect and admiration for Gen. Austin. I told him so just yesterday when I met with him. For me, it is a matter of principle, it's not personal.”

“Civilian control of the military is a bedrock principle in our country since its founding. And since 1947, we've put that into practice by choosing secretaries of defense from civilian life,” said Warren. “And I believe in this principle deeply, and it's why I voted against rewriting federal law for Jim Mattis, and it's wildly the same for Lloyd Austin. If Congress grants Mr. Austin a waiver, I'll consider his nomination independently on merit.”

“This is such an easy case and such a hard one. It's an easy one because Gen. Austin is so very qualified … his qualifications are so notable, and it's incredibly hard in the other sense because this is a very important principle,” said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. “Eliot Cohen was one of the witnesses arguing for the Mattis waiver, and he has argued strongly that the circumstances that compelled him to be here before us supporting the waiver four years ago don't apply right now. And he has written a piece in the Atlantic to suggest that we should not do it. So this is a really, really hard thing.”

“Four-star generals have spent decades in this community and likely know the combatant commanders and service chiefs very well. Oftentimes, they have grown up together for the majority of their professional lives, and in some cases, they have shared enormous hardship and harrowing experiences in combat,” said Duckworth, a combat veteran. “It often means that the top supposedly civilian leader and the top military leaders have very similar professional backgrounds and have spent their entire adult lives in the same military culture. And I don't think that's healthy because I appreciate the diversity of experience and perspective brought by a secretary who has a different resume and professional trajectory than the generals that they lead.”

TIMING OF AUSTIN HEARING MAY SLIP: At the conclusion of yesterday’s hearing, outgoing Republican Chairman Jim Inhofe indicated that the confirmation hearing for Austin, originally scheduled for Jan. 19, may be moved to Jan. 21, the same day the House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hear from Austin on how he plans to uphold the principle of civilian control of the Pentagon.

That would mean Biden would likely not have a defense secretary on day one, longer if Austin fails to get a waiver or is rejected by the Senate.

POMPEO TRAVEL PLANS TORPEDOED: The State Department announced yesterday that Secretary Mike Pompeo has canceled his planned trip to Europe, citing the need to stay in town to receive a transition plan from the incoming administration.

The plan will identify “the career officials who will remain in positions of responsibility on an acting basis until the Senate confirmation process is complete for incoming officials.”

Pompeo had planned to travel to Brussels for meetings with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and other officials, including a stop in Luxembourg.

But it wasn’t clear European allies who have been critical of President Trump were all that anxious to roll out the welcome mat for Pompeo, including Luxembourg’s foreign minister who called Trump a “political pyromaniac” and a “criminal” for inciting the rioters at the Capitol.

POMPEO’S ROUSING VOA SPEECH: The abrupt trip cancellation came on the same day Pompeo made an appearance at the independent government-funded Voice of America, in which he told the journalists it was their job to spread the word about “American exceptionalism.”

“It is not fake news for you to broadcast that this is the greatest nation in the history of the world and the greatest nation that civilization has ever known,” Pompeo said in his speech. “This isn’t the Vice of America, focusing on everything that’s wrong with our great nation. It’s the Voice of America.”

“Your mission is to promote democracy, freedom, and American values all across the world. It’s a U.S. taxpayer-funded institution aimed squarely at that.”

The speech came as critics have accused Michael Pack, who has headed VOA’s parent organization, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, since June, of turning VOA into a propaganda arm of the administration.

After yesterday’s appearance, Robert Reilly, the director of VOA, ordered the reassignment of a reporter for the international news organization after she sought to ask questions of Pompeo as he was leaving, according to the Washington Post.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Joint Chiefs condemn Capitol riot, uphold Biden election in memo

Washington Examiner: Senators skeptical of Lloyd Austin exemption and worry about 'politicization' of military

Washington Examiner: Pompeo: Iran has allowed al Qaeda to establish 'a new home base' under the regime

Washington Examiner: Biden CIA pick led secret 'back channel' negotiations for Iran deal

Washington Examiner: A last-ditch Trump strike on Iran could face legal and ethical challenges from the military

Washington Examiner: Senate to hold confirmation hearing for Biden DHS secretary before Inauguration

New York Times: Pentagon to Arm National Guard Troops Deploying to Capitol for Inauguration

Washington Post: Protest Threats In Multiple Cities Pose Challenge For Guard Support In D.C.

Military.com: Navy Career of 'QAnon Shaman' Ended After He Refused Anthrax Vaccine

Just the News: Pentagon held table-top contingency response exercise on morning of Capitol breach

McClatchy: Riot at Capitol was an act of ‘sedition’ military’s top leadership says in rare memo

Stars and Stripes: State Department Calls Off Ambassador's Taiwan Visit Amid Tensions With China

The Drive: This Is Our Best Look Yet At China's Z-20F Seahawk Clone Toting Air-To-Surface Missiles

USNI News: Navy Integrating Unmanned Surface Vessels, Zumwalt DDGs Into Fleet Battle Problem Exercise

Defense One: New Destroyer, Armed With Lasers and Hypersonic Missiles, Envisioned as Navy’s Future Centerpiece

19fortyfive.com: Eurotank: The British Army’s New Main Battle Tank?

The Atlantic: Opinion: Eliot Cohen: This Is No Job for a General

Breaking Defense: Opinion: Mackenzie Eaglen: It’s Time for a Two-Year Budget Deal

Wall Street Journal: Opinion: No, Trump Isn’t Guilty of Incitement

Washington Post: Opinions: 4 former homeland security secretaries: We cannot afford one more day without a confirmed DHS leader

Washington Post: Opinion: Rep. Watson Coleman: I’m 75. I had cancer. I got covid-19 because my GOP colleagues dismiss facts.

19fortyfive.com: Joe Biden Can’t Fall For North Korea’s Latest Trap

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 13

10 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room — Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and Katie Arrington, chief information security officer for acquisition and sustainment brief reporters on the Trusted Capital Digital Marketplace, the gateway to an investment ecosystem designed to promote innovation and ensure access to trusted sources of capital for emerging technologies and critical capabilities required for national security. https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events/

10:30 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “Joe Biden’s Tough Challenges in Iran,” with Jarrett Blanc, senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former lead State Department coordinator for the Iran Nuclear Deal; James Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former ambassador to Iraq and Turkey and special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center distinguished fellow; author and columnist for The New Yorker; and Steve Inskeep, moderator, host of NPR’s Morning Edition. https://www.usip.org/events/joe-bidens-tough-challenges-iran

11 a.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: ‘Building an Army Ready for Great Power Competition,” with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville; and Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Center for National Defense. https://www.heritage.org/defense/event

11:30 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Lexington Concord virtual discussion with Air Force Lt. Gen. Shaun Morris, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to provide an update on the overall health of the AFLCMC programs. https://www.afcealexcon.org/programs-events

2 p.m. — Association of Old Crows virtual discussion with Air Force Lt. Gen. David "DT" Thompson, vice commander of the Space Force, part of the EMSO (Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations) Leadership series. https://www.crows.org

2 p.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center virtual discussion: “Is NATO prepared for the Future? Reflections on NATO 2030: United for a New Era,” German Bundestag Member Thomas de Maiziere, former German Interior and Defense minister; Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell, vice chairman of the board of the Center for European Policy Analysis; and Daniel Hamilton, fellow and director of the WWC Global Europe Program. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/nato

3 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast on the Asia-Pacific, with former Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. https://www.csis.org/events

7 p.m. — Politics and Prose Bookstore virtual book discussion on Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy, focusing on Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Saddam Hussein, with author Kenneth Davis. https://www.politics-prose.com/event

THURSDAY | JANUARY 14

11:30 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association virtual discussion: “Shaping a Common, Modern, Joint Defense,” with Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency; Christopher Barnhurst, DISA executive deputy director; Serena Chan, director of the DISA Cyber Development Directorate; Brian Hermann, director of the DISA Services Development Directorate; Llewellyn "Don" Means Jr., executive at the DISA National Leadership Command Capabilities; Steve Wallace, systems innovation scientist at the DISA Emerging Technologies Directorate; and Army Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, DISA assistant to the director. https://dcevents.afceachapters.org/DISA2021

1 p.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: “Why America Needs the Long Range Standoff Weapon,”: with: Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Lt. Gen. James Dawkins; Peter Huessy, director of strategic deterrence studies at the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies; and Patty-Jane Geller, policy analyst for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at Heritage https://www.heritage.org/missile-defense/event

3 p.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center webinar: “U.S. Congress and the Legacies of the Vietnam War,” with Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.; Tim Rieser, senior foreign policy aid to Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; and Matthew Breay Bolton, associate professor at Pace University. https://www.stimson.org/event

4 p.m. — Hudson Institute video event: “A Discussion on the Defense Industrial Base with Government Leaders,’ with Ellen Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Robert Work, former deputy secretary of defense; Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, Hudson Institute; and Moderator Jeb Nadaner, PhD-JD, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy. https://www.hudson.org/events

FRIDAY | JANUARY 15

9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “A New Transatlantic Agenda,” with European Union Director General for Trade Sabine Weyand. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event

9:30 a.m. — George Washington University School of International Affairs webinar: “U.S.-China Relations Under the Biden Administration,” with David Michael Lampton, director of China studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Barbara Stallings, research professor at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs; William Rhodes, research professor at Brown University's Institute for International and Public Affairs; and Deborah Lehr, vice chairman and executive director of the Paulson Institute https://calendar.gwu.edu/us-china-relations

1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcas on "great power competition with China, COVID-19 relief efforts, the Trump administration's work on religious freedom, the future of U.S. foreign assistance, and opportunities and challenges for the incoming Biden administration,” with Jim Richardson, director of U.S. foreign assistance resources at the State Department. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event

3 p.m. — Reagan Institute virtual discussion: “"U.S. Foreign Policy in 2021 and Beyond,” with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo and Roger Zakheim, director, Reagan Institute. https://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs-events

MONDAY | JANUARY 18

Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Federal holiday

TUESDAY | JANUARY 19

11 a.m. — Arms Control Association Zoom webinar “Nuclear Challenges for the Biden Administration in the First 100 Days,” with Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy; Kingston Reif, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy; Daryl Kimball, executive director; and Tom Countryman, fmr. acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, and ACA’s board chair. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army “Noon Report” with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville; and retired Gen. Carter Ham, President and CEO, AUSA. https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report-mcconville

3 p.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee holds confirmation hearing for Lloyd J. Austin III to be Secretary of Defense. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 20

Inauguration Day — Federal holiday

TUESDAY | JANUARY 26

3 p.m. — Air Force Association "Air and Space Warfighters in Action" event, with Brig. Gen. Jeremy Sloane, commander of the 36th Wing, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, who if confirmed would be the first black American U.S. defense secretary, in a video message posted to Twitter.