Capitol Riots: Donald Trump wanted National Guard to protect his supporters
Former Pentagon chief says he intentionally did not station troops at the Capitol as he had concerns that would fan fears of a military coup.
May 14, 2021 10:05 BST
Amid the criticism on the National Guard for its delay in responding to the Capitol attack led by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, it has been revealed that the former United States President wanted the troops to protect the demonstrators.
During a hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Wednesday, Representative Carolyn Maloney who chairs the committee, asked Former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller why National Guard troops did not arrive until hours after the Capitol building was overrun by demonstrators.
‘I stand by every decision I made on January 6th,’ former Trump official tells Congress
Updated May 12, 2021;
WASHINGTON The former acting U.S. defense chief and former acting attorney general during Donald Trump’s last weeks in office defended their responses to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol under sharp questions from Democrats on intelligence failures and delays.
“The federal government was unprepared for this insurrection even though it was planned in plain sight on social media,” House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney said Wednesday at the panel’s hearing on the insurrection and the events leading up to it.
Former Defense Chief Cites Coup Speculation Before Jan. 6 Riot
Billy House, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) The former acting U.S. Defense chief plans to tell a House panel that he was concerned that sending troops to protect the Capitol in anticipation of a pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6 would heighten speculation about a coup.
âMy concerns regarding the appropriate and limited use of the military in domestic matters were heightened by commentary in the media about the possibility of a military coup or that advisers to the President were advocating the declaration of martial law,â Christopher Miller, who former President Donald Trump appointed as acting Defense Secretary, says in prepared testimony for a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday on the insurrection at the Capitol.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., will testify Wednesday that the "federal government was unprepared" for the Jan. 6 insurrection on the United States Capitol.
House Oversight Committee chair says government was unprepared for Capitol riot
On Location: May 11, 2021
Replay Video UP NEXT U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., will testify Wednesday that the federal government was unprepared for the Jan. 6 insurrection on the United States Capitol, even though it was planned in plain sight on social media for the world to see, according to excerpts of her prepared statement obtained by ABC News ahead of a congressional hearing. Maloney, who is chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, is also expected to say that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have a special duty to warn of domestic terrorist threats, yet it’s clear that despite all of this intelligence, the federal government was not prepared. MORE: Plea offers for some accused Capitol rioters coming soon, prosecutors say