The Pentagon on January 6 overruled President Donald J. Trump's order to deploy the National Guard to provide security, intentionally delayed deployment of the National Guard by several hours and lied to Congressional leaders about it. and used his own inspector general to cover everything up. The U.S. House of Representatives report concludes:
After a two-year investigation, the House Administration Committee Oversight Subcommittee holds former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, two Pentagon Army generals, and Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller responsible for failing to send the National Guard to the Capitol. I suppose there is.
“Over the past 24 months of this investigation, my subcommittee staff has faced incredible obstacles in our pursuit of the truth: lost and deleted documents, hidden evidence, and unaccounted for. video footage, uncooperative bureaucrats, and more,” said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the subcommittee chairman.
“Incredibly, it would be nearly four years before video footage was released in which Speaker Pelosi, in a rare moment of true leadership, acknowledged that she was fully responsible.”
The draft report is Obtained by Blaze News. This confirms and expands on the January 6 failure detailed in the September 19 Blaze News report.
“This report makes clear that there was no single cause for the events that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. But it was a series of events at several levels and numerous organizations. It was a failure of intelligence, security, and leadership,” Loudermilk said in a report scheduled to be released on December 17.
“Among the multiple failures, there were two common factors that contributed significantly to the security problem: excessive political influence over important decisions and greater concern for optics than for the protection of life and property.” Loudermilk wrote.
The Pentagon's failures were covered up, and the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General “contained fabricated information, ignored critical information, failed to interview key individuals, and appeared to have collaborated with the Pentagon to provide false reporting.” It got even worse. story,” the report states.
National Guard obstruction
Loudermilk's report was ostensibly intended to investigate the failures and politicization of the now-defunct Jan. 6 task force, but at the desperate request of the Capitol Police chief, the National Guard was sent to the Capitol. Most of the page was devoted to efforts to prevent this from taking place. Steven Sand.
According to the report, the highest-level Pentagon officials blamed the massive security failures at the Capitol on their own efforts for sabotage that would have allowed the National Guard to be mobilized to quell the riot, and the He blames the Special District National Guard.
Tear gas and incendiary devices are used on a crowd in the West Square of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP, via Getty Images
“The events of January 6, 2021 were preventable,” Loudermilk wrote. “For nearly four years, Democrats have pushed the narrative that President Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot, spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a politically motivated witch hunt while Congressional leadership It has failed to properly examine how it failed to ensure adequate protection for members of Congress and thousands of parliamentary staff.
“These actions taken by Pentagon leadership resulted in the Department of Defense's paralysis in response to the insurrection at the Capitol.”
“Incredibly, it would be nearly four years before video footage of the chairman was released.” [Nancy] “In a rare moment of true leadership, Ms. Pelosi acknowledged that she was solely responsible for the security failures that day,” Loudermilk said.
The report accuses two top members of the select committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), of destroying investigative documents and possibly committing perjury. It suggests that it should be investigated. Cassidy Hutchinson is a key anti-Trump witness who testified before the special committee. The report said Cheney likely violated “numerous federal laws” and “should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
The report reveals six key findings regarding the National Guard issue, primarily that Mr. McCarthy has blocked efforts to move National Guard rapid response troops from nearby camps to the Capitol, and that Mr. Sund has moved them from around the Capital Region. It has been suggested that 1,700 law enforcement officers had to be called in. to retake the Capitol grounds.
McCarthy is responsible
Secretary McCarthy “deliberately delayed” the Guard response, authorized by Acting Secretary Miller at 3:04 p.m., and then accused Pelosi, Chuck of He lied to Sen. Schumer (N.Y.) and other Congressional leaders. He moved to the Capitol when he “learned that these troops had not yet received any orders,” the report said.
McCarthy and Miller imposed unusual restrictions on the D.C. National Guard in memos issued on January 4 and 5, the report said. The memo reserved the authority for the DCNG to “issue weapons, ammunition, bayonets, and batons” and to “make physical contact with demonstrators.” McCarthy imposed further restrictions on the use of the 40-man rapid reaction force until a “concept of operational plan'' was submitted.
“These actions taken by Pentagon leadership resulted in the Department of Defense being paralyzed in its response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” the report said.
“The subcommittee believes that these explicit control actions against the National Guard reflect imprudent and inappropriate judgment by the Acting Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army and the intent of the Department of Defense leadership to prevent or limit the National Guard's ability to act.'' We conclude that it originates from both.
“We have a green light. We're moving.”
Sund made an emergency request for Guard assistance during a conference call with the Pentagon at 2:30 p.m.
“The purpose of the 2:30 p.m. call was to request immediate assistance from DCNG, but Secretary McCarthy, whose express permission was required, declined to respond to the call,” the report said. “The participants in this conference call were shocked to hear statements from Secretary McCarthy's senior Army staffer, Lt. Gen. [Walter] Piatt and Major General [Charles] Mr. Flynn, I recommend that you stick to your “optics” and refuse the request for assistance. ”
According to the report, Secretary of Defense Miller approved Sund's request for assistance at 3:04 p.m. and relayed the approval to McCarthy. McCarthy did not inform Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, commander of the Washington, D.C. National Guard, who did not receive authorization to act until after 5 p.m.
Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund made an urgent request for National Guard assistance during a conference call with Pentagon officials on January 6, 2021, at 2:30 p.m.
Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc., Getty Images
Mr. McCarthy claims that he called General Walker at 3:05 p.m. Mr. Walker said, “We were waiting for permission to send troops to the Capitol, and at no time on January 6, 2021, did Secretary McCarthy or He has consistently denied receiving any contact from that staff member,” the report said.
“The failure to communicate orders in a timely manner has never been addressed by the Department of Defense or oversight agencies, including the task force,” the report said.
At 3:18 p.m., Mr. McCarthy spoke by phone with Mr. Pelosi, Mr. Schumer and other key lawmakers in an attempt to impress upon them the urgency of the situation at the Capitol.
“This is a crisis situation and there is a risk of loss of life,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Schumer added, “There are still some senators in hiding. They need a lot of resources right now. Can we get the Maryland National Guard to come as well?” According to the report, Ms. Pelosi told Mr. McCarthy that she would call D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to inform her that Mr. McCarthy was no longer blocking the deployment of the Guard.
“Mr. Speaker, I never said no. I had no choice but to ask for permission. That is not my personal prerogative. I had to speak to my boss,” McCarthy responded.
“Speaker Pelosi asked, 'Did you talk to your boss?'” To which Secretary McCarthy responded, “Yes, I did.” We have a green light. we [DCNG] It's moving. ”
The truth was that despite Secretary Miller's 3:04 p.m. authorization, the D.C. Guard had not moved or been ordered to arrive at the Capitol.
Col. Earl Matthews will testify before the House Administration Committee Oversight Subcommittee on April 17, 2024, regarding alleged falsehoods in the January 6 Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General report.Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc., Getty Images
“The most troubling aspect of these misleading statements is that, based on information that DCNG was on its way to the Capitol at 3:18 p.m., Congressional leaders believe that the safety of members and their staff will be affected.” “The decision was made,” the report said.
Mr. McCarthy has faced no consequences for his apparently deceptive communications with Congressional leaders.
“To date, there have been no investigations or disciplinary actions against Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, who misled Congressional leadership with false statements regarding the delay in deploying the DC National Guard to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.” says the report. .
General obstruction of inspectors
The Pentagon's Office of Inspector General released a report in 2021 that found the agency “deliberately and inaccurately placed blame on the D.C. National Guard leadership.”
According to the report, the OIG occasionally obstructed the subcommittee's work, and the subcommittee found that there was an “inappropriately close relationship between the Department of Defense Inspector General and the Department of Defense, which impeded the inspector general's objective.” “This impairs the supervisory ability of the public.''
The OIG interviewed 43 witnesses in preparing the January 6 report, but “failed to interview key DCNG personnel who were deeply involved” in preparing the January 6 report. The book says: The OIG report made “alarming accusations” that General Walker lied during testimony at a March 2021 Senate hearing.
“Because Maj. Gen. Walker's testimony revealed information unfavorable to the Army staff and senior Department of Defense officials, the DoD IG prepared a report with the purpose of intentionally undermining the sworn testimony of the DCNG commander,” the report said. are.
Loudermilk's subcommittee held a hearing in April 2024 in which four National Guard whistleblowers accused the Pentagon's Jan. 6 OIG report of being riddled with lies.
“As an oversight body, the subcommittee is committed to conducting an independent and rigorous review by the Department of Defense for its failure to interview witnesses from the Washington, D.C. National Guard, who maintained differing accounts of the events of January 6, 2021. It simply highlights the lack of analysis,” the report said. Said.
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