the duties of the President, requesting the assistance of top officials, even though he was not in the chain of command and had no constitutional power to issue orders.
In testimony before the Select Committee, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley explained that President Trump did "[n]nothing," "[z]ero" to marshal the Government's resources during the assault on the U.S. Capitol.[3] In contrast, Vice President Pence had "two or three calls" with General Milley and other military officials—even as the mob hunted him. During those calls, Vice President Pence was "very animated" and "issued very explicit, very direct, unambiguous orders." The Vice President told Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller to "get the military down here, get the [National] [G]uard down here," and "put down this situation."[4] President Trump could have made those same demands. He chose not to do so—a damning fact that President Trump's own Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, quickly tried to cover up.
"We have to kill the narrative that the Vice President is making all the decisions," General Milley recalled Meadows as saying. "We need to establish the narrative, you know, that the President is still in charge and that things are steady or stable," Meadows said, which General Milley described as a "[r]ed flag."[5] In his testimony, General Milley also reflected on what it meant for a President not to be taking action in a time of crisis:
You know, you're the Commander in Chief. You've got an assault going on on the Capitol of the United States of America, and there's nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero? And it's not my place to, you know, pass judgment or—I'm the, you know—but no attempt to call the Secretary of Defense? No attempt to call the Vice President of the United States of America, who's down on the scene? To my knowledge, it wasn't—I just noted it.[6]
President Trump's closest advisors—both inside and out of the White House—implored him to act sooner. Earlier in the week, two of the President's most trusted aides, Eric Herschmann and Hope Hicks, both wanted President Trump to emphasize that January 6th would be a peaceful protest. President Trump refused.[7]
On the 6th, as the riot began to escalate, a colleague texted Hicks and wrote, "Hey, I know you're seeing this. But he really should tweet something about Being NON-violent."[8] "I'm not there," Hicks replied. "I suggested it several times Monday and Tuesday and he refused."[9]
Once the attack was underway, President Trump initially ignored the counsel of his own family, members of his administration, Republican elected officials, and friendly Fox News personalities. Both Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. wanted their father to tell the rioters to go home
