Thread by @DirkSchwenk

BREAKING: Something is REALLY up with the DC National Guard response to the Capitol on January 6. A thread.

Let's start at the beginning. The DC National Guard is the only national guard that takes its orders directly from the President of the United States. On Jan. 6, 2020, that person was Donald J. Trump. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_….

Since Truman, the day to day activities of the DC Guard are delegated to the Secretary of Defense. That does not apply, however, when the guard is "on active emergency duty in the District of Columbia after being ordered to such duty pursuant to law." presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/exec…

On January 6, 2020, the ACTING Secretary of Defense was Christopher Miller whose Chief of Staff was Kash Patel - both credibly accused of being Trump toadies.

Miller was ordered by Trump on Jan 3 to "protect the demonstrators"; prohibited National Guard from deploying with weapons or armor without his orders; and withdrew immediate response authority from Gen. Walker, commander of DC Guard. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph…

According to DOD's timeline (which has been significantly criticized) Miller gave voice authorization for DC Guard to deploy at 4:32 PM. media.defense.gov/2021/Jan/11/20…

BUT WAIT "Miller, who was in the chain of command and reported directly to [DJT] testified under oath that the [DJT] never contacted him at any time on January 6th, and never, at any
time, issued him any order to deploy the National Guard."

And the J6C "has identified no evidence that President Trump issued any order, or
took any other action, to deploy the guard that day... nor ... any calls to the DOJ or other LE Agency to request deployment." january6th.house.gov/sites/democrat…

So ... the DC National Guard was deployed without authority of its Commander In Chief.

What should we make of that?

Liz Cheney appears to believe that Trump's failure to give the order was a felony. washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…

The early reporting was that Pence gave the order. But Pence isn't in the chain of command. cnn.com/2021/01/06/pol…

Miller said it was a group effort: ""Chairman Milley and I just spoke separately with the Vice President and with Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Senator Schumer and Representative Hoyer about the situation at the U.S. Capitol. We have fully activated the D.C. National Guard...

Army Sec confirmed that explanation: ""But as we worked through it, we ultimately made the determination about a half hour later to mobilize the entire DC National Guard. So, this has been incredibly fluid."

SO ... bottom line 1) DC National Guard deployed against Trump's orders; 2) the FBI/DOJ Swat or similar deployed without Trump's orders.

This could have been so much worse.

And what are we to make of Miller? Did he chicken out? Expect the mob to be reinforced? Why not say - I don't have orders - and just refuse to send in the DC Guard?

For those asking - the 25th Amend requires VP at minimum to transmit a written declaration (including others in cabinet?) that the POTUS is unable to discharge his duties. I can't believe that they could have kept that secret.

Some of the side conversations have made this point: it appears that Pence, Pelosi, Miller, SECARMY McCarthy, McConnell, Schumer and Hoyer got together and - in the absence of Trump protecting the Capitol as the CiC - gave the order. That takes some stones.

If Trump ever gets back in power, he will make each of those people pay to the greatest extent he possibly can.

One more: I would not describe this decision by Pence, etc. (assuming that's what happened) as unconstitutional or lawless ... all of these officials had an independent oath to uphold and protect the constitution, and I am sure they believed they were meeting that oath.

If you dig this kind of thing, I always appreciate a follow. I am not under the sway of any foreign power or evil billionaire. I just hope for a better future.

I've expanded on this thought experiment here:

https://twitter.com/DirkSchwenk/status/1484563848745136136?s=20

This appears to be a more modern version of the Standing Order which I cited above. As I read it, the result is the same - only Trump had authority to order troops to DC. archives.gov/federal-regist…