DC National Guard Commander Contradicts DoD: It Took 3 Hours for Deployment Approval Amid Capitol Attack

Despite the Department of Defense’s claims that acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller deployed D.C. National Guard at 3:04 p.m. on Jan. 6, Commanding General William Walker reported that it actually took over three hours before activation was approved.

The discrepancies in the Department of Defense and D.C. National Guard’s timelines were made clear during a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, during which national security officials presented their testimony on the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) pointed out the contradictions, noting that Walker’s account does not match Robert Salesses, a Pentagon official attending the hearing.

Walker’s opening statement specifically claimed that it took more than three hours to get the Department of Defense’s approval to send in the D.C. National Guard at 5:08 p.m., while Salesses’ testimony stated that Miller approved full activation of the military members at 3:04 p.m.

Salesses also claimed that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy “directed D.C. National Guard to personnel to initiate movement and full mobilization” and received approval at 4:32 p.m., further contradicting Walker’s claim that approval was not relayed to him for 3 hours and 19 minutes after he altered Army Senior Leadership.

“Each testified under oath to a different version of requests of the events, so, we’ll get to the bottom of that,” Portman said of the varying accounts. “The witnesses also pointed to lapses in intelligence as a key reason law enforcement was not better prepared. They all claim no intelligence was warned of a coordinated violent assault at the Capitol but we know there were reports out there, both publicly and from the FBI.”

Portman insisted to know the exact information the intelligence community received prior to the attack — also questioning how they assessed and categorized the information.

“Now, remember, we’re all watching this on CNN and Fox and MSNBC, and it’s a riot, and, yet, it took more than three hours,” he added of the reported deployment time, later quoting Walker’s claim that the delay was due to “optics.”

Watch above, via C-SPAN.