Military defends response to Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON — A top Army leader defended the Pentagon’s response to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, telling a House panel Tuesday that the National Guard was delayed for hours because they had to properly prepare for the deployment and that senior military leaders had determined beforehand that there was “no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.”
Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of the Army staff, echoed comments from other senior military leaders about the perception of soldiers being used to secure the election process. He said the Pentagon wanted to be careful about their response in part because of concerns about military helicopters that had flown low over Washington streets during protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the summer of 2020.
It also took several hours for guardsmen to be equipped and given a plan for how to secure a building overrun by hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump, Lt. Gen. Piatt said.
“When people’s lives are on the line, two minutes is too long,” he said. “But we were not positioned to respond to that urgent request. We had to re-prepare so we would send them in prepared for this new mission.” Lt. Gen. Piatt’s testimony comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will step up its investigations into the deadly attack. She said Tuesday that the House “can’t wait any longer” to do a comprehensive investigation after Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create an independent commission.
“Whether we have a commission today, tomorrow or the next day over in the Senate, or not, the work of the committees will be very important in what we’re seeking for the American people — the truth,” Ms. Pelosi said.
One option under consideration is a select committee on the Jan. 6 attack, a setup that would put majority Democrats in charge. More than three dozen Republicans in the House and seven Senate Republicans wanted to avoid a partisan probe and supported the legislation to create an independent, bipartisan commission outside Congress.
But those numbers weren’t strong enough to overcome GOP opposition in the Senate, where support from 10 Republicans is needed to pass most bills. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has said he may hold a second vote after the legislation failed to advance last month, but there’s no indication that Democrats can win the necessary support from three additional Republicans.
“We will proceed,” Ms. Pelosi said.
Meanwhile, most Republicans are making clear that they want to move on from the Jan. 6 attack, brushing aside the many unanswered questions about it, including how the government and law enforcement missed intelligence leading up to the rioting and the role of Mr. Trump before and during the attack.
The hearing Tuesday in the House Oversight and Reform Committee was to examine “unexplained delays and unanswered questions” about the siege, with public testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray, Lt. Gen. Piatt, and Gen. Charles E. Flynn, who was previously Army deputy chief of staff.
All three men were involved that day as the Capitol Police begged for backup. The National Guard did not arrive for several hours as police were overwhelmed and brutally beaten by the rioters.
Lt. Gen. Piatt insisted that he did not deny or have the authority to deny guard help during a call with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who has previously said he believed Lt. Gen. Piatt and other Army leaders were concerned about the optics of soldiers surrounding the building. According to the Defense Department, military leadership approved activation of the full D.C. National Guard at 3:04 p.m., about 40 minutes after the call with Chief Sund.