The decision was scrutinized because city officials and Capitol police claimed the Pentagon was slow to respond, while the Pentagon and the military claimed they had never refused or delayed requests for the National Guard.
In the official timelines released by the Department of Defense following the riot, Charles Flynn, the deputy chief of staff of the army, was not listed as participating in the calls that day to mobilize the national guard to respond to the riot. not. .
“I entered the room after the call started and left before the call ended because I believed a decision by (then Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy) was imminent and I had to be in my office to help with the execution of the decision, “Flynn said. said in a statement released to CNN. There was no clear answer as to how long Flynn was on the call and whether he contributed to the conversation.
The Washington Post reports that the army ‘for days falsely denied that Lt.Gen. Charles A. Flynn ‘was involved in the key meetings. One of the officials who was at the call told CNN in the days following the uprising at the Capitol that Flynn did not make any calls, but the military only confirmed his participation on Wednesday.
There is no indication that Charles Flynn agrees with his brother, who was an outspoken supporter of contesting President Joe Biden’s victory on behalf of the former president.
‘Those of you who feel weak tonight, those of you who do not have the moral fiber in your body, get a little tonight because tomorrow, we the people are going to be here, and we want you to know that we are not standing For a lie, ‘he said.
The official timeline from the office of then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller mentions McCarthy, the mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, the deputy mayor of the city, the director of the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, Christopher Rodriguez, and the leadership of the Metropolitan Police Station as participants in the call. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of Army personnel, was also called.
However, there was no mention of the involvement of Charles Flynn, a three-star general who has already been approved by Congress for a fourth star. Flynn is responsible for operations, plans and training, but he is not part of the command chain of the DC National Guard, and he does not have the authority to deploy troops.
The revelation comes as the Department of Defense is already trying to refute the allegations that it denied or delayed the deployment of additional troops as the riot on Capitol Hill worsened, eventually killing five people, including a Capitol police officer. A DC official calls the process of calling more guards ‘long’ and ‘tortured’.
Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting there were no intentional delays, although McCarthy told CNN on Monday the response was being hampered by an ‘archaic system’.