On January 6, 2021, Maj. Gen. Walker requested assistance at approximately 1:50 p.m., but the deployment of the Guard to the Capitol did not occur until around 5:10 p.m. This delay raised questions about the reasons behind the three-hour gap in deploying troops to respond to the unrest during the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
Gen. Walker conveyed the request for assistance and instructed the Guard to stand by, according to the timeline of events. However, whistleblowers claimed that this call never took place.
During a hearing, Capt. Timothy Nick, who served as Maj. Gen. Walker’s personal assistant on Jan. 6, 2021, stated, “At no time did Gen. Walker take any calls, nor did we ever hear from the secretary on any of the ongoing conference calls or the secure video teleconferencing throughout the day. This I know because I was with the command general the entire time recording the events.”
Despite the request being conveyed around 1:50 p.m., the Guard was not deployed to the Capitol until about 5:10 p.m. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) criticized the delay, calling it a dereliction of duty by the secretary of the Army.
Mr. McCarthy, who refused to appear before the panel, authorized Guard deployment at 3:11 p.m. Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense at the time, approved the request, but Mr. McCarthy decided to draw up a plan before ordering the deployment, according to military timelines and testimony.
Gen. Walker denied receiving a call from Mr. McCarthy at 4:35 p.m. informing him of the approval to deploy the D.C. Guard to the Capitol, as alleged in the Pentagon Inspector General’s report.
Col. Matthews defended the Army, stating, “Our Army has never failed us and did not do so on January 6, 2021. However, occasionally some of our Army leaders have failed us and they did so on January 6th. Then they lied about it and tried to cover it up. They tried to smear a good man and to erase history.”
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
