The decision-making has come under scrutiny as city and Capitol Police officials have alleged that the Pentagon was slow to respond, while the Pentagon and Army maintain they never denied or delayed requests for the National Guard.
In official timelines released by the Department of Defense in the wake of the riot, Charles Flynn, the deputy chief of staff of the Army, was not listed as participating in any of the calls that day about mobilizing the National Guard to respond to the riot.
“I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending, as I believed a decision was imminent from (then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy) and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision,” Flynn said in a statement released to CNN. There was no clear answer about how long Flynn was on the call or whether he contributed to the conversation.
The Washington Post reports that the Army “falsely denied for days that Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn” was involved in the key meetings. One of the officials who was on the call told CNN in the days following the insurrection at the Capitol that Flynn was not on the calls, but the military did not confirm his participation until Wednesday.
There is no indication that Charles Flynn agrees with his brother, who was a vocal adherent of disputing President Joe Biden’s victory on behalf of the former president.
“Those of you who are feeling weak tonight, those of you that don’t have the moral fiber in your body, get some tonight because tomorrow, we the people are going to be here, and we want you to know that we will not stand for a lie,” he said.
The official timeline from the office of then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller listed McCarthy, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, the city’s deputy mayor, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Christopher Rodriguez, and Metropolitan Police Department leadership as participants on the call. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of the Army staff, was also on the call.
But 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 chain of command 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 rebut accusations that it denied or delayed the deployment of additional troops as the riot worsened on Capitol Hill, eventually leaving five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. A DC official called the process of calling up more guardsmen “long” and “tortured.”
Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied the accusations, insisting there were no intentional delays, though McCarthy on Monday told CNN the response was hampered by an “archaic system.”
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