The commander of DC National Guard has called for retraction of a Pentagon report on the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by supporters of former US President Donald Trump.
William Walker, the current US House sergeant-at-arms, called the report "sloppy," "inaccurate," and "incomplete" in an interview with The Washington Post.
His complaint comes in reaction to allegations by US Defense Department acting inspector general Sean ODonnell, who has claimed that that Walker had been called by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy twice on Jan. 6, to inform him that the DC National Guard should be deployed to handle the pro-Trump rioters.
Walker alleged that he never received a call from McCarthy at 4:35 pm, as detailed in the report.
‘Impartial report!
He further stuck to comments he made during sworn Senate testimony in March that he received authorization to dispatch troops at 5:08 pm, upon which he immediately deployed the National Guard to assist the outnumbered Capitol Police.
Many analysts have speculated that had the National Guard been deployed slightly later the insurrection attempt could have ended catastrophically as the protesters came quite close to elected officials such as then Vice President Mike Pence and several lawmakers, who were holding a session to certify now-President Joe Bidens presidential victory against Trump.
"Every minute mattered. You have to understand: These are my friends here," Walker said, referring to Capitol Police officials, including police chief Steven Sund, who was forced to resign following the attack.
Despite the latest allegations, Megan Reed, a spokeswoman for the inspector generals office, defended the impartiality of the report as well as the opportunity it created for all the witnesses to "provide information they believed was relevant to our review."
"Our independent and impartial report presents Maj. Gen. Walkers statements to us and his testimony to Congress, as well as information and statements provided by other witnesses," Reed said, according to The Post.
The comments come amid a rift in the Republican Party over the election fraud Trump has been complaining about.
Supporters of the former president shouted "Hang Mike Pence!" as they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in the hope of overturning the election results, although to no avail.
Since Jan. 6, Democrats have been arguing that the protest was an insurrection based on disinformation spread by the former president, who alleges that he is the true victor of the 2020 presidential election and not Biden.
According to recent surveys, most Republicans still believe that the election was stolen from billionaire businessman, and that he is the legitimate president of the United States.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/24023
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