What did Major General Walker think was happening in those 3 hours and 19 minutes?
"Delay."[261]
An Absent Commander-in-Chief. Vice President Mike Pence called several times to check in on the delayed response of the Guard. President Trump did not.
Vice President Pence called Acting Secretary Miller at least two times.[262] "He was very animated, and he issued very explicit, very direct, unambiguous orders. There was no question about that," General Milley said.[263] "And he said, 'Get the National Guard down here. Get them down here now, and clear the Capitol.' You know, and this is the Vice President of the United States. And there was other forceful language.' "[264]
Acting Secretary Miller clarified that "he did not order me," as "he's not in the chain of command," but he considered the talk with the Vice President "[h]yper professional" and "[v]ery focused," in which the secretary "highlighted that District of Columbia National Guard . . . was activated, and we were throwing every asset we could marshal to support law enforcement."[265]
In contrast, according to General Milley, Chief of Staff Meadows called and said, "'We have to kill the narrative that the Vice President is making all the decisions. We need to establish the narrative, you know, that the President is still in charge and that things are steady or stable,' or words to that effect. I immediately interpreted that as politics, politics, politics."[266]
President Trump himself did not call. As reports of Departments of Defense denials and delay were echoing in the media, no high-level Defense official—including Secretaries Miller[267] and McCarthy[268]—received a call from him that day.[269] At the time, General Milley thought that was "absolutely . . . highly unusual."[270]
"[Y]ou'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?" he said.[271] "I grew up in an organization where commanders are responsible and take charge and they see situations unfolding and they issue orders and take charge."[272]
On January 3rd, at the end of a national security meeting concerning a foreign threat, the President asked "in passing" about January 6th preparations.[273] Acting Secretary Miller informed him they would be fulfilling Mayor Bowser's request for DC Guard support.[274] From then on, if not earlier, the secretary "felt like I had all the authorities I needed and did not need to discuss anything with the President regarding authorities."[275] The conversation lasted all of 30 seconds to a minute.[276] Secretary Miller testified that he never received any order at any time from President Trump to
