May 13 2021 Former acting U.S. Defense Secretary Michael Miller testified before Congress on Monday that he did not send troops to the Capitol when the mob attacked it on Jan. 6 because of concerns that it would fuel perceptions that former President Donald Trump might stage a “military coup.”
Miller reportedly said he insisted on the correctness of his written testimony that Trump “encouraged” the mob to attack the Capitol. But he told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Mr. Trump’s January 6 comments were not the only cause of the unrest.
His testimony was part of a lengthy Pentagon defense of the incident. The riots of January 6, 2021, were the worst attack on the Houses of Parliament since the war of 1812.
Miller tried to portray his actions as respecting the legitimate rights of protesters when he was reluctant to authorize more military intervention. He also told lawmakers that Trump had not blocked the use of the National Guard.
But he also testified that Mr. Trump did not call him at the time of the attack. He also said he had spoken to then-Vice President Mike Pence. The latter had no command and was in the Houses of Parliament at the time of the attack.
In the days after the attack, the Pentagon did not explain why it feared what it feared would be a military coup. D.C. officials, former Capitol Police chiefs and Maryland’s Republican governor have said they had asked for the National Guard hours before the Pentagon approved it.
Several Democrats lambasted Mueller, saying he was too slow to deploy the National Guard. Representative Krishna Mossy, Democrat of Illinois, questioned: “You’re leaving office, Mr. Secretary.” You are part of the cause of the confusion. Representative Connor, Democrat of California, asked Miller if he would apologize for his “incompetence.”
“I’m willing to take responsibility for every decision I make on January 6th,” Miller said. ”
During the hearing, Democrats also urged Miller and former acting Attorney General Rosen to explain why the Department of Defense and the Justice Department were so “obviously different” in their response to the “Black Lives Matter” protests and the Capitol riots in the summer of 2021.
“The events of January 6th are beyond the line,” said Representative Maloney, Democrat of New York, chairman of the committee, in his opening statement to the hearing. The federal government was unprepared, even though the incident was publicly planned on social media and noticed around the world. Although our government has access to all military and law enforcement resources in a crisis, the security system collapsed in the face of the mob, and reinforcements were delayed for several hours after the invasion of the Houses of Parliament. ”
Under questioning, Rosen confirmed that there was “no evidence” of widespread fraud that could affect the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, refuting Trump’s false claims. But he declined to answer questions about what he said violated attorney-client confidentiality privileges, including whether Trump had urged him to try to overturn the election results.
