American election."[78] Given the heat of the rhetoric, he thought, "[I]f we don't say anything, it's going to scare people."[79] Secretary McCarthy told the Select Committee he thought he would be fired after publicly stating that the military would not assist in a coup.[80] General McConville, who signed the statement alongside Secretary McCarthy's signature,[81] linked their words directly to the Ninth Street limitation: "[T]here was no plan to put any military anywhere near the Capitol because of what we had said, the military has no role in determining the outcome of elections."[82]
On January 1st, Executive Officer to Secretary McCarthy Colonel John Lubas wrote in an internal email that the Secretary "wants to clearly communicate that this request is NOT from the White House."[83] The email noted that the Secretary wanted to "aggressively message" that the request had come from District officials, not the President.[84]
"We wanted everybody to know that, because it would create confusion and even more tension of having soldiers on the street without a request and that they be near the Capitol with certification of an election, a contested election," Secretary McCarthy said.[85]
On January 3, 2021, 10 former Secretaries of Defense, including the recently fired, former Secretary Esper, published a joint op-ed warning that "[i]nvolving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory."[86] Secretary McCarthy had himself worked for five of the 10 secretaries.[87] "I know all these [men]," he said.[88] "[T]hey were—everyone was telling us, be very conscious of your actions and how you—you know, what you're going to do that day. So we wanted to know where every soldier was by street corner."[89]
Was Secretary McCarthy concerned that President Trump might use the military to cling to power? "There was a lot of talk in the lead-up about martial law . . . and the employment of forces, and you know, that was something that we were all, you know, conscious of."[90] Our investigation suggests that those civilian and military officials who had considerable experience working directly with President Trump had genuine concerns about whether he would attempt to use the military to change the election results. Again, at this time, there is no evidence the Department of Defense understood exactly what President Trump and his associates planned for January 6th.
"Very Strict on the Use of the Military" on January 6th. By Monday, January 4th, with Secretary McCarthy now backing the operation, Acting Secretary Miller was briefed. He told the Select Committee that he "made the decision right there to honor the request."[91] That approval came with strings attached. The role of the DC Guard would be spelled out and tightly circumscribed in a memorandum that, as characterized by General Milley, was "very strict on the use of the military."[92] It decreed that without the Acting Secretary's
