Two senior Pentagon officials appointed by Donald Trump were isolated during a Senate hearing on Wednesday in the wake of the security forces’ slow response to the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill.
Several witnesses have been nearly three-and-a-half hours late in establishing the National Guard, with decision-making power being vested in former Acting Defense Minister Christopher Miller and former Secretary of Defense Ryan McCarthy, two allies of Donald Trump.
According to General William Walker, commander of the Washington National Guard, even Ryan McCarthy “Rapid reaction force“, Stood ready to intervene in the event of violence, could not be used without its green light.
The delay was not available at the height of the violence, which left five people dead.
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Three hours, very long delay
There is a green light to station the National Guard. “The final action was delivered by the Minister of Defense and sent to me by Army officers at 5:08 p.m.“William Walker said in a joint hearing before two Senate committees on Wednesday.”This should not take more than three hours“, he said.
The general clarified that Miller and McCarthy were not available for a phone call at 2:30 p.m. regarding the situation.
But he added that Ryan McCarthy’s collaborators, who joined the call, were opposed to stopping the National Guard because theyI thought it would cause a mess“They also said that sending troops in uniform would provoke the anger of the rebels,” William Walker said.
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Robert Chalessus, a senior defense official, confirmed that on November 9, almost a week after his defeat in the presidential election, he had ruled that the decision to implement Donald Trump’s National Guard – Christopher Miller – had returned to him.
“Miller wanted to determine how the National Guard was going to be used that day“, He said during the trial.
