Trump loyalist defends response to Capitol riot
Donald Trump’s acting defence secretary during the January 6 Capitol riots plans to tell Congress that he was concerned in the days before the insurrection that sending troops to the building would fan fears of a military coup and could cause a repeat of the deadly Kent State shootings, according to a copy of prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.
Christopher Miller’s testimony is aimed at defending the Pentagon’s response to the chaos of the day, and rebutting criticism that military forces were too slow to arrive even as pro-Trump rioters violently breached the building and stormed inside.
Miller casts himself in his opening statement as a deliberate leader who was determined that the military should have only limited involvement, a perspective he says was shaped by criticism of the aggressive response to the civil unrest that roiled American cities months earlier, as well as decades-old episodes that ended in violence.
He plans to tell members of the House Oversight Committee today that the Defence Department has ‘‘an extremely poor record in supporting domestic law enforcement’’, including during civil rights and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s.
‘‘And some 51 years ago, on May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops fired at demonstrators at Kent State University and killed four American civilians,’’ Miller’s prepared remarks say. ‘‘I was committed to avoiding repeating these scenarios.’’
He will also deny that Trump had any involvement in the Defence Department’s response.
Miller is expected to testify alongside former acting attorneygeneral Jeffrey Rosen and District of Columbia Police Chief Robert Contee III. He is the most senior Defence Department official to participate in congressional hearings on the riots.
The hearings so far have featured finger-pointing about missed intelligence, poor preparations and an inadequate law enforcement response.
The Capitol Police have faced criticism for being badly overmatched; the FBI for failing to share with sufficient urgency intelligence suggesting a possible ‘‘war’’ at the Capitol; and the Defence Department for an hourslong delay in getting support to the complex despite the violent, deadly chaos unfolding on television.
Rosen, testifying publicly for the first time about the riots, is expected to tell lawmakers that the Justice Department ‘‘took appropriate precautions’’, putting tactical and other elite units on standby after local police reports indicated that 10,000 to 30,000 people were expected at rallies and protests, according to prepared remarks obtained by AP.
Miller’s remarks defend his resistance to a heavy military response as being shaped in part by public ‘‘hysteria’’ about the possibility of a military coup, or concerns that the military might be used to help overturn the election results.
He says he agreed in the days before the insurrection to deploy soldiers only in areas away from the Capitol.
Miller puts himself at odds with William Walker, who as commanding general of the DC National Guard testified about what he said were unusual Pentagon restrictions that impeded his response. He also described a more than three-hour delay between the time support was first requested and when it was received.
Miller, a US Army veteran, served as a White House counterterrorism adviser under Trump before being tapped as acting defence secretary for the final months of the Trump Administration. He replaced Mark Esper, who was fired after being seen by Trump as insufficiently loyal. The abrupt appointment raised concerns that Miller was in place to be a Trump loyalist.
In his opening statement, Miller says he believes that Trump ‘‘encouraged the protesters’’ but declines to say if Trump bears responsibility for the events.