Congressman Krishnamoorthi Pressed Fmr. Acting Defense Secretary Miller On "1.5 Hour Gap" In Responding To Capitol Insurrection
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) questioned former Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller on his involvement in responding to the January 6th, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Mr. Miller was unable to answer for the glaring delays in the official Department of Defense timeline and why authorization was stalled for DC National Guard to support at the Capitol complex on January 6th. Congressman Krishnamoorthi also pointed out Mr. Miller's questionable statements doubting the fitness of DOD operations and complimenting Russia, drawing the connection to this unprofessional behavior by Mr. Miller to a flawed federal response at the Capitol on January 6th.
The full video of Congressman Krishnamoorthi's question line to Mr. Miller can be viewed here and a portion of the transcript below:
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "I think your comments, Mr. Miller, about Russia and the DOD are bizarre and rotten, and I think they illustrate, unfortunately, the problems of the response on January 6th On January 3rd, you informed the President that Mayor Bowser requested national guard support, and according to page 11, of your written statement, the President said to give the Mayor the support she requested, correct?"
Miller: "Yes."
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "On January 6th, according to your statement, you became aware sometime on or before 1:30 pm that day that the rioters breached the perimeter of the Capitol, right?"
Miller: "Yes."
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "According to a DOD created timeline, at 1:34pm Mayor Bowser called Army Secretary McCarthy to request "additional forces to respond to the Capitol.' According to page 8 of your statement, at 3:04pm, so one and a half hours later, you authorized mobilizing the DC National Guard and providing these additional forces. That constituted a gap of 1.5 hours. During that 1.5 hour gap why did you and the Secretary disobey the President's order to give the Mayor the support she requested?"
Miller: "She already had the support she requested. What's your question, sir?"
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "Sir, she already requested additional support. Do you see these pictures of mayhem and pictures of insurrection on January 6th? She requested additional support from you. And during that 1.5 hours either you disobeyed an order given to you by the President to help Mayor Bowser, or the President changed his order and asked you to delay support, or you just plain froze and were indecisive while people were being injured, killed, while hundreds of rioters breached the Capitol, and a nation was traumatized "
Miller: "There were eight thousand badged and credentialed police officers on duty."
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "And you weren't there. You were AWOL. You were AWOL, Mr. Secretary. You were AWOL."
Miller: "That is completely inaccurate."
Rep. Krishnamoorthi: "Remember, as you said before, "you have responsibility for everything. Something goes wrong I own it completely 110 percent.' Sir, you partially own this mayhem, and that is why I am going to ask for a DOD investigation into your actions."
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