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The subcommittee on oversight will come to order. Without objection the cha the subcommittee on oversight will come to order. Without objection the chair may declare a recess at any time. Also without objection the meeting record will remain open for five legislative days the members may submit materials they wish to be included therein. Thank you Ranking Member torres, and our courageous whistleblowers for joining us for todays oversight hearing. These whistleblowers are coming forward today to share for the first time under oath the first hand account related to National Guard deployment on january 6. None of todays whistleblowers were interviewed under oath by the department of defense Inspector General for the select committee. January 6 2021 highlighted a combination of failures at many levels. For todays hearing, we are examining the Department Defense and d. C. National guards response to the violent breach of the capital. We will get into it. I would like to play a brief video about the timeframe of the delay. Is this the video we received just this morning . Last night . Okay. [background noises] alright, want to thank the maturity for indulgence of playing the video. Its important to set the stage of just how important three hours in 19 minutes can i want to thank the minority for their indulgence in playing the video. Its important to set the stage about how just important three hours and 19 minutes can be. On a day like that. At a previous hearing we heard testimony from former he was Capital Police chief about the former speaker and congressional leadership delay. At the request for assistance. On january 6, 2021 the d. C. National guard received the first request for immediate assistance from the was Capitol Police. Is protester started to gather and force their way into the capital complex. However at this time the police board had not officially approved the request. At roughly to 12 00 pm protesters breached the capitol and began assaulting police officers. Staffers and members of congress were ordered to evacuate including myself and others that are here today. Capitol police attended to secure members and clear the capitol but were quickly outnumbered. Thereve been many testimonies of that day but one thing is clear, the was Capitol Police requested and needed urgent assistance from anyone who would answer the call including the metropolitan Police Department and various federal Law Enforcement entities and the d. C. National guard. However there was a delay deploying the National Guard for over three hours. Almost one hour after the capitol was breached 3 0 4 00 pm the acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller approved the d. C. National guard to deploy to the capitol. Just a brief History Lesson for those who do not know, executive order 11 485 legates oversight of the d. C. National guard to the department of defense. In 1969 memo further designates this authority specifically to the secretary of the army. On january 6, 2021 the commanding general of the d. C. National guard, William Walker, reported directly to the secretary of the army. The d. C. National guard was at the armory, 1. 2 miles away from the capitol, waiting for authorization to deploy to assist civil authorities and quell the riot. However, the d. C. National guard didnt arrive at the capitol until almost 6 00. Thats three hours and 19 minutes of delay. During those hours chaos engulfed members of congress, Law Enforcement officers, reporters, staffers and citizens. During those hours necessary help from the d. C. National guard was not on the way. Our goal today is to get to the bottom as to why. It took too long for the d. C. National guard to arrive at the capitol. The 113th wing capitol guardians have a proud history of protecting our nations capitol and serve our nations leadership. Nevertheless the new Jersey State Police were nearly 150 miles away responded to the capitol before the d. C. National guard. Additionally the pentagon knew there was a threat to Government Operations because by 3 30 7 pm the pentagon said its own Security Forces to guard the homes of defense leaders. At 3 30 7 pm no d. C. National guard forces were on the way to the capitol. Drought might subcommittee extensive investigation into the events of january 6 in the select committee on january 6, we have uncovered concerning interest in these regarding the mobilization of the d. C. National guard. Through phone records, first hand accounts, sworn testimonies we have gathered there appears to of been a significant delay at the Department Defense in either deploying the National Guard or communicating the order of deployment. Either way, the purpose of this hearing is to hear the d. C. National guard story for the First Time Ever about the three hour and 19 minute delay. On november 16, 2021 the department of defense released a report reviewing their role in response to january 6 which claimed that the d. C. National guard was deployed to the capitol as quickly as possible. However, the report also credited significant delays in deployment to d. C. National guard, commanding general Major GeneralWilliam Walker, neglecting to mobilize after receiving orders. Specifically, the dod ig report concludes the leader of the National Guard response, Major General walker, received direction from the secretary of the army to deploy the d. C. National guard to the capitol twice. Once at 4 35 pm and again at 5 00. Major general walker denies that either of these calls to place despite the many inconsistencies and contradictions of the department of defense is responsibility that they, the select committee on january 6 ignored these discrepancies despite them being shared privately by their own staff and barreled forward with the dod side of the story. Following the release of the dod ig report multiple whistleblowers were present with Major General walker have come forward to share their experiences. According to their testimony, hours of vital Response Time were missed because Senior Army Officials had personal concerns regarding military presence at the was capitol. Today we have the responsibility of recognizing these d. C. National guardsmen, listening to their testimony, and honoring their patriotism. These brave men who showed up to defend the capitol and were discovered and ignored when they tried to come forward. I reached out to the dod ig regarding concerns with the report and contradictory narratives for nearly 2 months i have not received any answers. Today we will learn more about what happened that day. Regarding the delay. We will hear a side of the story that has been ignored for too long. Was the portly today we will look to the future and make sure are capitol, capitol guardians and Law Enforcement partners are more prepared today than they were three years ago. We are only able to conduct this oversight because whistleblowers have come forward to share their stories. I encourage anyone to reach out to the subcommittee as our investigation continues. I recognized Ranking Member torres for five minutes for the purpose of providing an Opening Statement. Thank you, chairman, and think you two are witnesses for being here today and for your service to our nation. Particular on january 6. You sacrificed your sign to protect us and we owe you a debt of gratitude. We are here today discussing the delayed National Guard response to the capitol for one reason and one reason only. Donald trump dispatched an armed mob to try to overturn the election he knew he lost. And for three hours and 19 minutes is that violent mob assaulted Law Enforcement and hunted for members of congress and the Vice President who they were trying to hang, the National Guard was forced to wait, and wait, and wait. All because of the chaos at the pentagon caused by the commander in chief and the fear that he would involve the military in domestic clinical affairs. A big nono. We teach worldwide to emerging countries. This was a commander in chief who, as the right unfolded, didnt call his acting secretary of defense or secretary of the army who asked why the National Guard was missing . Were were they . A commander in chief who after he learned someone was shot, didnt care. He didnt call the National Guard directly. A commander in chief whose aids and family partied and danced as the mall prepared to overturn the capitol. A commander in chief who sat in his dining room watching it all unfold on tv like it was an action movie. With an ending favorable to him. How did we get here . In response to the june 2020 responding to the murder of george floyd, President Trump said he would. To put down the protest and even asked secretary of defense why the military couldnt just shoot the protesters in the legs or something . The secretary found the president s comments so disturbing he held a press conference saying he opposed evoking the insurrection act. Then, in december, as trump continue tos bread conspiracy theories, supported by members of this Congress Sitting here today, about the election being stolen, talk of invoking the insurrection act reached a boiling point. It got so bad that his own secretary of the army and the army chief of staff, a four star general issued a joint statement saying, there is no role for the was military in determining the outcome of an american election. And as our top military leaders worried the president would declare martial law, the rest of the National Security apparatus was in total disarray. People were getting fired or resigning left and right. Everyone remembers that, right . And with only 71 days left in his term, trump terminated the secretary of defense and replaced him with an acting secretary of defense who was completely, completely over his head. Contrary to attempt to rewrite history, the january 6 select Committee Conducted more than two dozen interviews and reviewed over 37,000 pages of documents related to the National Guard, and dedicated 46 pages of its final report to this issue. The select Committee Found that the chaos led an illequipped acting secretary of defense issuing an unclear order to the secretary of the army. And order so uncl it was interpreted differently by the acting secretary of defense, the army chief of and the secretary of the army. Three people, three different interpretations. It is all there in the select committees final report and the dozens of relevant transcripts available online. Adding to the chaos, these top Army Officials exercised extreme caution and imposed unprecedented restrictions on when and how to deploy the guard on january 6. This was the direct result of the president s decision to involve the military in domestic affairs. Two are witnesses, i am so sorry. I am so sorry that trumps Defense Department and Army Leadership failed you and they failed us on january 6. You should never have been forced to sit on your hands while we were lying on our stomachs. Planning to use a pen in our purses as a weapon to defend ourselves against the mob that was sent here to kill us by the president of the United States of america. We were preparing to die. I yield back. The gentle lady yields. The chair now recognizes the full committee Ranking Member for the purpose of making an Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you two are witnesses for your careers of distinguished service. The d. C. National guardsmen are known as the capitol guardians. And we as members are only able to do our jobs in the days and months that followed the january 6 because you stood guard over us as you did. And for that and for all of your long service, we owe you enormous debt of gratitude. So thank you. I want to be clear, we are here today for a single reason. An unpatriotic, cynical, power hungry man incited a deadly insurrection as part of his month long effort to overturn a free and fair american election. We are here because of his lies about the 2020 election. Its hard to believe, its frankly even hard to say, but it doesnt make it any less true. Yet, many cannot bring themselves to acknowledge it. Many in this room. As a result, we are here because of the majoritys 15 month quixotic mission to find malfeasance from the january 6 select committee who investigated the insurrection, where no malfeasance exists. Frankly, just as a question of jurisdiction, it should be raised, if this hearing is about the chain of command, and or communication between the various elements of the defense apparatus of the u. S. , then it falls to the House Armed Services committee to do that investigation. They should be doing it. I do agree. But this is clearly not the venue for this to happen. I do want to address something at the outset. There is a notion that persists the President Trump ordered or pushed 10,000 National Guard troops ahead of january 6. It has been debunked repeatedly and is also a red herring. And here is why. Is the chair has stated, a 1969 executive order delegated authority over the d. C. National guard to the secretary of defense who in turn delegated that authority to the secretary of the army. But the president of the United States ultimately sits atop the chain of command. What he did with the National Guard before january 6 doesnt matter compared to his actions or, i should say, inactions, on 6 january itself. And what he never did on the sixth was call the secretary of defense, secretary of the army, or the d. C. National guard itself to find out why they were not on the scene or to order them to the capitol for that threehour a 19 minute delay. So i want to quickly dispense with the claimant once and for all that he ordered 10,000 troops. Acting secretary defense provided the following answers under penalty of perjury. The first question, the 10,000 troops, did you take that as a request for you or in order for you to deploy 10,000 troops . s answer, and i quote, no, absolutely not. Interpreted it as a bit of provincial banter, or President Trump enter the you are familiar with and in no way did i interpret that as an order or direction. It was also asked, in february 2021 mark meadows said on fox news, even in january there was a given as many as 10,000 National Guard troops were told to be on the ready by the secretary of defense. Is there any accuracy to that statement . Mr. Meadows answered, not for my perspective. I was never given any direction or knew of any plans of that nature. So no, there was obviously we had plans for activating more folks but there was not anything more than contingencies. And then a few questions later, to be crystal clear, the question was, there was no direct order from President Trump to put 10,000 troops to be on the ready for january 6 is that correct . s answer, that is correct. There was no direct order. There was no order from the president. I think that is all you need to know. Under oath the secretary defense ver happened. Heres the bottom line. The president of United States limited when he pleaded his followers into believing the election was stolen from him. Some summoning an armed mob to washington and unleashing them on the capitol. And then did absolutely nothing to stop what unfolded. People died. We almost lost our democracy. We couldve have 100 hearings to deflect blame but the facts in akron to change. President truman famously had a sign on