Questions about the National Guard at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are once again making headlines this week after new footage recorded by Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s daughter shows the former speaker of the House blaming herself for not doing more that day.
“Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” Pelosi asks in a fury. “They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.”
Of course, after the footage leaked, Pelosi joined MSNBC to decry the clip as Trump supporters’ “revisionist history.”
I was serving as the chief of staff for the Department of Defense on Jan. 6, 2021, and it was my duty to ensure our laws and military chain of command were followed. The deployment of the National Guard requires presidential authorization, which Trump gave days before Jan. 6 in the Oval Office, where I was present. It also requires a request from local governing authorities, including D.C. Mayor Bowser and Capitol Police, who report to the speaker of the House.
It is worth noting that once the Capitol Police and Mayor Bowser finally made the lawful request for the National Guard, Trump’s Department of Defense implemented the fastest cold start of the National Guard since World War II.
For years, I have testified under oath, in the media, and everywhere in between that Pelosi and Bowser were responsible for not requesting the National Guard on Jan. 6 after President Trump constitutionally authorized deploying the guard. We submitted the best evidence — their own written refusals — to the partisan Jan. 6 Committee. They excluded them from the record despite agreeing to include the letter and timeline.
Now, footage of Pelosi shows she blamed herself for not doing more. Pelosi did more than just create the unlawful and unconstitutional Jan. 6 committee; she hid evidence directly relevant to a congressional investigation, lied to the world, and decided to spend Jan. 6 filming a movie of herself. The sheer conceit of it all is surpassed only by her evil desire to destroy a movement that seeks to demolish her brand of corruption.
The history of the Jan. 6 Committee should be recorded in its entirety so that it may never again be repeated. It’s no surprise that then-Speaker Pelosi’s committee used the same brand of subterfuge to rig the entire system. They buried evidence exonerating Trump from any claims of “insurrection.”
During my testimony, I entered direct evidence into the record. The committee agreed to include it, yet intentionally withheld it in their reports (Bowser letter, Capitol Police timeline, Biden DOD IG report clearing Trump DOD of any wrongdoing), and withheld information that showed the only delay in the deployment of the National Guard rested with then-Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy. McCarthy took it upon himself to subvert the chain of command after the order was given to deploy the guard. He spoke with media instead.
President Trump’s former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato testified that, “Meadows ‘wanted to know if she need any more guardsmen,’” and that, “I remember the number 10,000 coming up of, you know, ‘The president wants to make sure that you have enough.’ You know, ‘He is willing to ask for 10,000.’”
This single piece of testimony directly corroborates my account, and was also excluded from the record until March of 2024 when Chairman Barry Loudermilk released the questionably disregarded and highly relevant new information.
My original testimony to the committee, which was consistent in every interview and court appearance, highlighted that “The authorization came in beforehand. It was relayed to the appropriate officials in D.C. and the Capitol Police. It was declined, and we acted when their request finally came in on January 6,” and “Trump had authorized the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops to support law enforcement in multiple meetings.”
This is a tragic abdication of one’s service responsibilities to perform these overt acts of constitutional thievery to achieve their Machiavellian political end state.
The Deep State’s manipulation doesn’t stop with Jan. 6. We’ve witnessed a relentless smear campaign against Trump and his supporters, aimed at undermining our democracy and silencing the voice of the American people. From illegal surveillance to baseless impeachments, their tactics are straight out of a dystopian playbook.
The corporate media, in collusion with these political operatives, has turned journalism into propaganda, eroding public trust and stifling the truth. This battle is not just about one man; it’s about the future of our nation and the preservation of our constitutional freedoms. The stakes have never been higher, and the American people deserve to know the truth.