Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today joined 40 lawmakers in demanding answers from the Department of Defense (DoD) about its role in preparing for and responding to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. In a letter to Acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, the lawmakers outline grave concerns about the Department of Defense’s role in preparing for and responding to the riot that overran the Capitol last Wednesday.

The lawmakers wrote: “We have grave concerns regarding the Department of Defense’s failure to recognize the gravity of the insurrection at the Capitol and to provide proportional and timely response. Multiple press outlets have reported delays and denials of requests to deploy the National Guard to the District of Columbia from around the region. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has stated that she ‘made it perfectly clear that they needed extraordinary help, including the National Guard.’… Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has said that he ‘was ready, willing and able to immediately deploy [National Guard] to the Capitol, however we were repeatedly denied approval to do so” and that approval to deploy the Maryland National Guard only came after a delay of ‘90 minutes.’”

In response to numerous well-documented failures by DoD to prepare for the threat at the Capitol, the lawmakers demand specific information on 13 counts, including the roles that President Trump, Vice President Pence, Acting Secretary of Defense Miller and Secretary of the Army McCarthy played in the approval or denial of each request for support.

The full text of the letter is available here.

###