As bad as it was, it could have been so much worse. If 10,000 national guard troops accompanied Trump to the Capitol on January 6th, there would not have been any sort of showdown. There was not going to be a gunfight between Americans. National Guard against the Capitol Police. Trump would have gone straight into the Capitol and interrupted the vote counting. It would have been chaos, which is all that Trump ever wanted.
And, apparently, that was the plan. Everything below comes directly from the January 6th report, but this material was gathered by Rawstory (Credit), which does a fine job but doesn’t extend the story to the most logical conclusions.
Pierson then told the committee that Trump thought, “Well, I should walk with the people,” but at the time she didn’t take him “seriously.” Advisers tried to talk him out of it, including White House Senior Advisor Max Miller, who “shot it down immediately,” the report said, because there were concerns about Trump’s safety. Pierson agreed, but Trump was firm. That’s when he first floated the idea of 10,000 National Guardsmen deployed to protect him and his supporters from any supposed threats by leftwing counter-protesters.
Not buying it. Not at all. There were no “Left-Wing Counter Protestors,” and that was becoming obvious by January 4th. No, Trump actually wanted those troops because they would be the key to the building. Trump is ultimately Commander in Chief, not Nancy Pelosi. In the District, Trump is in charge of the National Guard. If Trump showed up at the Capitol with 10,000 troops under his command, he was getting into the Capitol, period. And then God only knows…
Trump has said over and over again that he told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he wanted 10,000 National Guard soldiers. He has made it seem like he warned her that there would be violence, in fact, the truth is that Trump wanted them to protect him on a march to the Capitol.
Sure, they would protect him on the way. But it would look much more like a military coup if Trump marched into the Capitol with the National Guard. I cannot tell if Trump ever conveyed anything to Pelosi or even why he would (Pelosi isn’t in charge of the National Guard. She cannot order them out.) Now it makes sense why Trump always said that he “recommended” 10,000 to 20,000 troops. He wanted the Guard to help himself.
“Miller again rejected the President’s idea, saying that the National Guard was not necessary for the event,” the report says. “Miller testified that there was no further conversation on the matter. After the meeting, Miller texted Pierson, ‘Just glad we killed the national guard and a procession.’ That is, President Trump briefly considered having the National Guard oversee his procession to the U.S. Capitol.”
Trump probably figured out pretty quickly that if he brought an army to the Capitol and somehow lost the political battle, it would be infinitely easier, visually, to both throw him out of office by a vote of the cabinet, impeachment, and then criminal prosecution. Perhaps a week later.
Trump’s boast that Pelosi should have taken Trump’s “suggestion” for 10,000 National Guardsmen always sounded to me like just another Trump lie. And it was. But the sliver of truth to it fits. And my god, it seems like Trump chickened out. Because he certainly had the authority to call out the Guard. But he must have known that when you attempt a military coup (Even if no shot was fired, the appearance again), you better win. The assumption is that losers of military coups don’t last through the day.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: Much Ado
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Trump should watch Its A Wonderful Life, especially the scene where George is on the bridge ready to jump. Except this time his guardian angel isn’t there, because instead of everyone praying FOR him due to his lifetime of selfless acts to help others, there’s a chorus of JUMP JUMP JUMP!!!! Cue up Van Halen and cut to Eddie flying across the stage with massive guitar links and a goofy grin on his face. That’s a remake I could watch! Call up Tarantino.
Licks
I wonder how many other bombshells are coming?
I suspect there will be a lot. The Committee didn’t have time to go through all the salacious and important (like the above was important but not to the criminal case they were making), but I promise to use the word carefully. I really thought a lot of people would want to read this. Of course, I try to write real titles, not clickbait, so sometimes when people can tell what’s happened by the title, they don’t click.
The problem, though, is the President can ONLY call out the National Guard after he invokes (somewhat ironically) the Insurrection Act. And, at the time we’re discussing, the only people who were at the rally were Trump’s supporters and I can’t imagine Trump invoking the Insurrection Act against his own people. All the claims of “ANTIFA actors” came only AFTER the violence began (and Trump’s only official threat to invoke the Insurrection Act was during the George Floyd protests in July of 2020–and he noted this was a reaction to the VIOLENCE that was taking place).
Additionally, Trump would’ve had to bring in that number from several states. DC only has about 2500 guardsmen between Army and Air Force (per the National Guard page at Wiki). Maryland has about 6400 and Virginia about 8500 but I don’t see that the President can proactively call up the Guard, instead only AFTER something begins. And it’s not like the Guard has an on/off switch whereby members get to the site of whatever emergency at once–even all of DC’s guardsmen can’t possibly get to the White House and Capitol on a minute’s notice (some, you know, have full-time jobs from which they need to leave and then get home and dressed for Guard duty–that takes a little time). So, to pull in 10000 Guardsmen to downtown DC AFTER the call came out?
Sorry, but it doesn’t take invoking the Insurrection Act to federalize National Guard Units. While it’s true that a state (or territory) Guard is under the command of their Governor and that Governor’s usually go along willingly when their Guard (or units within it) are federalized that’s not always been the case. Guard units have been federalized against the wishes of a Governor, a lesson I learned early in life listening to adults in the 1960s talking about it happening in the Civil Rights era. Some in my hometown were for it and others against but the point is that a President is Commander-In-Chief of all our armed forces and has the power to activate any Guard unit by federalizing it. DC is a special case because it’s not a State but rather a federal enclave and the elected Mayor has no say about the DC Guard. It is under the direct control of the federal government and therefor the President.