Oversight Subcommittee Finds Pentagon Deliberately Delayed National Guard Deployment on January 6 — Cover-Up by DoD Inspector General Exposed

Loudermilk accused the DoD of intentionally delaying the deployment of the D.C. National Guard (DCNG) and of publishing an Inspector General report that “whitewashes” the events to protect top Pentagon officials.

The letter, addressed to Defense Department Inspector General Robert P. Storch, challenges the findings of Report No. 2022-039, which the DoD Inspector General’s office had presented as a comprehensive review of the Department’s role during the Capitol riots.

Loudermilk’s Subcommittee on Oversight, tasked with probing security failures on January 6, asserts that the report contains glaring inaccuracies and conveniently ignores testimony that exposes Pentagon misconduct.

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More from the letter:

Given the D.C. National Guard’s history of success supporting both the Federal Government and the City Government in responding to civil unrest, and the significant role the Guard played in ensuring the safety and security of Members of Congress at the Capitol on January 6, it is essential that Report No. 2022-039 accurately reflect objective facts so that we can identify the serious problems, abuses, and deficiencies to recommend corrective actions consistent with the Inspector General Act of 19782.

Throughout the Subcommittee’s extensive investigation into the failures of January 6, 2021, we have discovered numerous flaws and objective inaccuracies in the report that your office has yet to appropriately address.

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After a thorough examination of e-mails and documents, including letters, memorandums, agreements, plans, orders, reports, briefings, statements made in congressional hearings, closeddoor testimony to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (“Select Committee”), and closed-door testimony made to the DoD IG, the Subcommittee’s investigation has concluded that the Department of Defense intentionally delayed the deployment of the DCNG to the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Furthermore, the Subcommittee also maintains that the DoD IG knowingly concealed the extent of the delay in constructing a narrative that is favorable to DoD and Pentagon leadership.

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In March of 2021, D.C. National Guard Major General William Walker testified before Congress that the Guard’s response to the Capitol on January 6 was delayed by senior DoD officials.

In April of 2024, Colonel Earl Matthews, Major General Walker’s legal advisor, Command Sergeant Major Michael Brooks, Major General Walker’s Senior Enlisted Officer, Brigadier General Aarond Dean, Major General Walker’s Adjutant General, and Captain Timothy Nick, Major General Walker’s Aide-De-Camp, testified before Congress that the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, was not in communication with the Guard and that their response to the Capitol was “most certainly delayed [by the Army].” These key DCNG personnel were intentionally not included as witnesses by the DoD IG.

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The Subcommittee is deeply concerned that the DoD IG’s failure to interview witnesses who testify to an account of events on January 6 which are contradictory to the report’s conclusions, erode any suggestion that this report is correct or unbiased.

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A report that includes biased and incomplete statements to favor the Department of Defense and U.S. Army while disparaging the D.C. National Guard fails to represent the DoD IG’s philosophy and practice of producing unbiased, objective, impartial, and independent reviews as well as recommendations grounded in evidence and free from external influence.

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Therefore, we are left with no choice but to reject Report No. 2022-039 and request that you publish a formal correction on behalf of the 10,432 congressional staff members and 535 Members of Congress who donned gas masks and retreated from their Chambers while the DCNG sat on buses waiting, less than 2 miles from the Capitol at the D.C. Armory, for communication from Secretary Ryan McCarthy.

“My Subcommittee worked with the DoD IG in good faith throughout our investigation to provide multiple opportunities for the DOD IG to produce corroborating materials or evidence to support their conclusions,” said Chairman Loudermilk in a statement.

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“Unfortunately, the DoD IG continues to promote an inaccurate narrative that protects senior Pentagon officials and attempts to cast fault on the D.C. National Guard, who were ready and waiting less than 2 miles from the Capitol but unable to respond on January 6 due to lack of communication from the Secretary of the Army,” he added.

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He continued, “My Subcommittee released transcripts that show that not only were political concerns of ‘optics’ at play, but that DoD officials continued to delay as the riot at the Capitol worsened. The evidence is conclusive: DoD officials misled Congress into believing that help was ‘on the way’ with full knowledge that it wasn’t.”

The Subcommittee is demanding a formal correction to the report and insists the Pentagon disclose all evidence related to January 6.

It has also sought guidance from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to ensure accurate historical records.