You Have a Right to Know
Some work in DC does not get the attention of national and local media outlets.
At the beginning of 118th Congress, I was asked to serve on the House Administration Committee and specifically the Subcommittee on Oversight because of my legal background.
In the 117th Congress, the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack was established. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially offered Republicans five seats on the Select Committee. But, when then-Leader McCarthy appointed the five, including Congressmen Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, she said no.
Ultimately, she installed two Republicans, who did not have the support of the Republican caucus to serve.
During the tenure of this overly partisan Select Committee, Democrats pushed a narrative they favored to cast President Trump in the worst light.
On December 22, 2022, the Select Committee published their now-questionable final report.
The Oversight Subcommittee was tasked to get all the facts from January 6, to review the Select Committee’s actions and findings, and to learn what went wrong on January 6, 2021.
One objective of the Subcommittee is to get all the facts out on why the National Guard was not made available until the late afternoon on January 6, 2021.
Under the law, January 6 is the date that Congress is responsible to receive and determine the validity of the electoral college vote every four years.
Our Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing with former United States Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Steven Sund, who oversaw USCP on January 6.
The January 6 Select Committee never asked Chief Sund to publicly testify before their committee. Why?
Also earlier this year, Oversight had four DC National Guard whistleblowers appear in a hearing. The whistleblowers disputed evidence submitted to the Select Committee.
The Select Committee never asked these witnesses to publicly testify either. Why?
One of the witnesses believed that while he went to the Select Committee as a confidential informant, someone connected with the Committee publicly leaked his name.
Worse than that, all four witnesses said General Walker, who at the time was the commander of the DC National Guard, didn’t get permission until 5:08 pm to send the National Guard to the Capitol.
Interestingly, on January 3, President Trump directed military figures, including Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, to ensure a “sufficient National Guard or Soldiers” presence for January 6.
However, due to “optics” concerns, Miller did not press ahead. “There is absolutely no way I was putting U.S. military forces at the Capitol, period,” Miller told the inspector general during his March 2021 interview. This in spite of Trump’s request!
As the situation on January 6 turned ugly, Miller finally realized he had to send an order to deploy the National Guard. He sent the order to Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, at 3:04 pm.
Secretary McCarthy didn’t transmit the order to the National Guard until 5:08 pm.
The four National Guard whistleblowers either told or were willing to tell the Select Committee this information.
But it does not appear in their final report. Why?
Additionally, another whistleblower outside of the National Guard testified to the Department of Defense Inspector General. Their testimony confirmed Secretary McCarthy didn’t give orders to the Guard until 5:08 pm. That is two hours after Miller relented at 3:04 pm.
The Select Committee report made it appear it was a National Guard failure. But as we get more evidence, it appears concerns over “optics” caused a failure to issue the order in advance of January 6.
These facts do not appear in the Select Committee report. Why?
Bad things happened on January 6. Some criminal acts occurred, and I do not condone those crimes. But the job of the Select Committee and our job as an Oversight Subcommittee are not to only follow the facts we hope are true, but to uncover all the facts.
The Select Committee did not do that. Why?
As a member of that Oversight Subcommittee, I will follow the facts wherever they lead.
This much is clear: 1) President Trump wanted the National Guard there. He wanted a safe event. 2) People in his Administration didn’t follow his instruction. And 3) Secretary McCarthy didn’t timely follow orders.
I anticipate more information to come to light in the following weeks and months, and perhaps there is some explanation that has yet to come to my attention.
But these are the conclusions I reach at this moment in time, and you have a right to know.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
