Generals Accused Of Lying About Capitol Riot Response

Politico reports:

A former D.C. National Guard official is accusing two senior Army leaders of lying to Congress and participating in a secret attempt to rewrite the history of the military’s response to the Capitol riot.

In a 36-page memo, Col. Earl Matthews, who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon roles during the Trump administration, slams the Pentagon’s inspector general for what he calls an error-riddled report that protects a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours.

Matthews’ memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by POLITICO, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals — Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff — “absolute and unmitigated liars” for their characterization of the events of that day.

The Hill reports:



Matthews said the men lied in their testimonies to Congress about how they responded to pleas for the D.C. Guard to be deployed on Jan. 6; what they told the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General in a report released last month; and that the Army has a document about the riot that is “worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist.”

The memo comes weeks after Maj. Gen. William Walker, who is now the House sergeant-at-arms, demanded the Inspector General’s report to be retracted because it contradicted his account of when he was told to send troops to the Capitol.

The watchdog’s report revealed that Walker had been called twice by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy informing him that the D.C. National Guard had been approved to help Capitol Police, once at 4:35 p.m. and again 30 minutes later.