A previously hidden transcript of an interview conducted by a U.S. House of Representatives panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol has been revealed, undermining a committee claim.
Anthony Ornato, who was the White House deputy chief of staff during the breach, told the committee that he overheard Mark Meadows, who was then chief of staff, on the phone with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. According to the transcript, Mr. Meadows wanted to ensure Ms. Bowser "had everything she needed."
Mr. Meadows "wanted to know if she need[ed] any more guardsmen," Mr. Ornato testified. "And I remember the number 10,000 coming up of, 'The president wants to make sure that you have enough.' You know, 'He is willing to ask for 10,000.' I remember that number. Now that you said it, it reminded me of it."
Ms. Bowder said that "she was all set," Mr. Ornato recalled.
Mr. Ornato was speaking to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
The committee said in its final report that it "found no evidence" supporting the idea that former President Donald Trump ordered 10,000 troops to be ready for Jan. 6.
"The former J6 Select Committee apparently withheld Mr. Ornato's critical witness testimony from the American people because it contradicted their pre-determined narrative," Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who released the transcript, said in a statement.
"Mr. Ornato's testimony proves what Mr. Meadows has said all along, President Trump did in fact offer 10,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Capitol, which was turned down," Mr. Loudermilk, the chairman of the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight, added.
Speaking to Fox News, Mr. Meadows previously said, "As many as 10,000 National Guard troops were told to be on the ready by the secretary of defense. That was a direct order from President Trump."
...
The former acting secretary of defense, Christopher C. Miller, told Vanity Fair that, in a meeting on Jan. 5, 2021, he told President Trump that the Department of Defense was going to provide any number of Guard personnel that Washington officials requested.
President Trump, according to Mr. Miller, responded: "You're going to need 10,000 people." But Mr. Miller told the select committee that he "never ... knew of any plans of that nature."
"There was no direct, there was no order from the president," he later added.
The committee highlighted Mr. Miller's testimony in its final report but did not mention Mr. Ornato's testimony, nor did it include Mr. Miller's previous quote, Mr. Meadows's comment, or President Trump's remarks
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser refused deploy more than a handful of troops, because her constituents hate any kind of law enforcement and she didn't like "the optics:"
The Pentagon has said that Ms. Bowser asked for Guard support for the Jan. 6 rally on Dec. 31, 2020.
Mr. Miller and other defense officials approved the activation of 340 Guard members on Jan. 4, 2021, in response to the request.
The next day, Ms. Bowser confirmed to Mr. Miller and other officials that she did not want any additional Guard personnel to help Washington officers with crowd control or other duties....
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has said he spoke about asking for Guard assistance ahead of Jan. 6 but that former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving turned down the plan. Mr. Irving "stated that he was concerned about the 'optics' of having National Guard present and didn't feel that the intelligence supported it," Mr. Sund said at a Senate hearing
No comments:
Post a Comment