Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller (third from left) walks with members of the National Guard outside the U.S. Capitol on January 17, 2021, in Washington, DC.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller (third from left) walks with members of the National Guard outside the U.S. Capitol on January 17, 2021, in Washington, DC. Getty Images / Eric Thayer

‘Hype’ Over Military Coup Fears Delayed Troops’ Jan. 6 Response, Miller To Tell Congress

In testimony, former Acting SecDef Christopher Miller will say he dismissed Trump’s warning that 10,000 troops should be ready for his rally in Washington, but blames the media and credits his own deliberations for slowing the military's response at the Capitol.

Former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller was aware protestors had entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 for roughly one hour before he met with top military leaders to coordinate a response, he will tell Congress on Wednesday. 

Miller’s testimony, a copy of which was obtained in advance by Defense One, is the first from President Donald Trump’s former top defense official on the government’s response to the riots.

In it, Miller confirms that Trump warned him one day prior to the planned political rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol, that he would need to have 10,000 troops at the ready, which the acting defense secretary did not take as a serious comment or instruction.  

Miller is scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on the military’s response to the Capitol attack on Wednesday. What Miller is expected to say is likely to do little to sway some lawmakers who claim that the Pentagon’s response to the breach and rioting by pro-Trump protestors was slow-rolled by his acting defense secretary. 

“More than four months later, Congress and the American people still have many unanswered questions about why the Trump administration did not do more in response to open threats of violence espoused by violent right-wing extremists before the attack, and why federal agencies were so slow to respond once the attack began,” said committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.. 

In his testimony, Miller said he became aware of the breach between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. and met with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy around 2:30 p.m. 

National Guard members did not arrive on scene until 5:22 p.m., a time lag which Miller said in his testimony has been unfairly criticized. 

“This isn’t a video game where you can move forces with the flick of a thumb,” Miller said in his written remarks. “We appreciated the seriousness of the situation, but we did not want to piece-meal National Guard forces into the zone of conflict.”

Former chief of the D.C. National Guard,Gen. William Walker, who is now the Capitol’s sergeant-at-arms has previously said they had a direct call for help from then-U.S. Capitol Police chief Steven Sund at 1:49 p.m., and had National Guard members ready on busses at the D.C. Armory to respond. 

Miller also confirms that on Jan. 5, one day prior to the attack, President Donald Trump mentioned briefly to him that “‘they’ were going to need 10,000 troops the following day.” At the time, the Defense Department had authorized 340 troops to conduct mainly traffic control. 

“The call lasted fewer than thirty seconds and I did not respond substantively, and there was no elaboration,” Miller said, in his prepared testimony. “I took his comment to mean that a large force would be required to maintain order the following day.”

Miller said he was hesitant to send troops to the Capitol because of the potential they would be perceived as arriving in support of the election challenge, or worse. 

Miller also blamed the media, saying that he did not want to put military forces in that role after speculative “commentary in the media about the possibility of a military coup or that advisors to the President were advocating the declaration of martial law.” 

“No such thing was going to occur on my watch,” Miller said. “But these concerns, and hysteria about them, nonetheless factored into my decisions regarding the appropriate and limited use of our Armed Forces to support civilian law enforcement during the Electoral College certification. My obligation to the Nation was to prevent a constitutional crisis.”

Five people died as a result of the Capitol attack, including a U.S. Capitol police officer. 

The violence on Jan. 6 led to a much more substantial U.S. military response leading up to President Joe Biden’s inauguration, two weeks later. More than 26,000 National Guard forces were deployed to the city and protective perimeter fencing and military barriers remained in place for months after the event. Congress is still debating what long-term additional security measures may be needed for the Capitol complex. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.