By Eric Lendrum, American Greatness
After years of mainstream media accusations that former President Donald Trump did nothing to protect the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, new transcripts reveal that the then-president was the only one who wanted extra security, only for his requests to be refused.
As reported by Just The News, the transcripts show that President Trump ordered officials to “do whatever it takes” to protect the Capitol on the day that the electoral votes for the 2020 election were being certified, out of fear of protests against the suspicious and probably fraudulent election results.
The transcripts were recorded during interviews with top government officials in the aftermath of January 6th by the Pentagon’s inspector general. One of the key witnesses was Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his interviews, Milley admitted that during a meeting on January 3rd, President Trump had already approved the use of the National Guard and active-duty troops to maintain law and order in the nation’s capital on the 6th.
“The President just says, ‘Hey look at this. It’s going to be a large amount of protesters coming here on the 6th, and make sure that you have sufficient National Guard or Soldiers to make sure it’s a safe event,’” Milley recalled to the inspector general. Milley then said that Christopher Miller, who was acting Secretary of Defense at the time, assured the president of security plans for that day: “Miller responds by saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a plan, and we’ve got it covered.’ And that’s about it.”
Later in the same interview, Milley again confirmed that President Trump was the one who insisted on higher security.
“It was just what I just described, which was, ‘Hey, I don’t care if you use Guard, or soldiers, active-duty soldiers, do whatever you have to do,” Milley continued. “Just make sure it’s safe.”
However, when Miller was interviewed by the inspector general, he confessed to refusing to use additional security for fear of political repercussions.
“There was absolutely — there is absolutely no way I was putting U.S. military forces at the Capitol, period,” said Miller at the time. The former acting secretary went on to say that officials instead utilized an interagency process to come up with an alternative plan that would delegate some DC National Guard troops to the job of directing traffic, but not to actually guard the Capitol; this proposal was suggested by Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D-D.C.).
“The operational plan was this, let’s take the D.C. National Guard, keep them away from the Capitol,” Miller explained. “Let’s put — the request, it wasn’t my request, Bowser and her Metropolitan Police Department were like ‘Let’s put D.C. National Guard on traffic control points and at the Metro stations to free up credentialed law-enforcement officers that can go out and arrest people.’”
The transcripts of the interviews were released by House Administration Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.). The bombshell revelations vindicate President Trump, and raise even more questions about the roles that officials like Milley, Miller, and Bowser played in the lead-up to the peaceful protest which went inside the Capitol, which has since been widely and falsely described as an “insurrection.”
Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House. He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast. amgreatness.com