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Pentagon Took Over 3 Hours to Approve Help on Jan. 6, D.C. National Guard Chief Says
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Pentagon Took Over 3 Hours To Approve Help On Jan. 6, D.C. National Guard Chief Says [forbes.com]:
Topline
The commanding chief of the Washington, D.C. National Guard testified before Congress on Wednesday that the Pentagon took over three hours to approve a request to send troops to the besieged U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as top security officials continue to point fingers over why help was delayed during the deadly attack.
Key Facts
Gen. William Walker told lawmakers at a Wednesday hearing—the second congressional hearing about security failures on Jan. 6—that senior Pentagon officials waited three hours and 19 minutes before approving a “frantic” request for troops from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.
Walker said he received a call from Sund at 1:49 p.m., which he then rushed to send to the Pentagon, but did not hear back until after 5 p.m., at which point the pro-Trump mob was hours into its rampage inside the complex.
The D.C. guard commanding officer also said “unusual” restrictions [washingtonpost.com] were placed on him before the attack that forced him to seek higher-level sign off on deployment, noting that the D.C. guard received “immediate approval” during Black Lives Matter protests over the summer.
“The army senior leaders did not think it looked good, it would not be a good optic,” Walker testified, adding that he had Guardsmen “on buses ready to move to the Capitol.”
Testifying on behalf of the Department of Defense (which did not offer up a witness directly connected to the day’s decision-making), Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security Robert Salesses disputed Walker’s account that National Guard deployment was delayed because of optics.
Salesses also testified that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy received approval from Defense Secretary Christopher Miller at 4:32 p.m., and could not answer why Walker wasn’t informed until 5:08 p.m.
“I believe that number could have made a difference,” Walker said during Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “I was frustrated. I was just shocked as everyone else on that call.”
Lawmakers have been pressing to figure out why law enforcement was so overwhelmed on Jan. 6, despite open plans for violence by supporters of former President Trump on multiple online forums. Top Capitol security officials, including Sund and D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee III, said they were not prepared for an attack of that scale because of an intelligence breakdown. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Tuesday that one of the agency’s field offices sent an uncorroborated, “raw” report showing plans for violence on social media the day before the attack through three different channels, but Contee says he only received an email and Sund said the report didn’t make it to the top ranks of the U.S. Capitol Police.
“Top Capitol Security Officials Disagree Over Basic Facts Of National Guard Delays On Jan. 6” [forbes.com] (Forbes)
“FBI Director: No Evidence Suggests Capitol Attack Was Organized By ‘Fake Trump Supporters’” [forbes.com] (Forbes)
“Former Capitol Police Chief Says Intelligence Didn’t Warn Of Jan. 6 Siege” [forbes.com] (Forbes)
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