deploy the National Guard on January 6th. "There was no direct—there was no order from the President," he said.[277]
On January 5th, as demonstrators rallied in support of the President, Acting Secretary Miller received a call from the commander-in-chief.[278] The President asked him if he was watching the events on television.[279] The secretary told him he had caught some of the coverage.[280]
Unprompted, President Trump then said, "You're going to need 10,000 people" the following day, as in troops.[281] An email sent by Chief of Staff Meadows on January 5th explicitly noted that the DC Guard would be on hand to "protect pro Trump people."[282] The President and his staff appeared to be aware of the likelihood of violence on the day the election certification of his loss was slated to transpire. This communication from President Trump contemplated that the Guard could support and secure the safety of Trump supporters, not protect the Capitol. At that time, Secretary Miller apparently had no information on what President Trump planned for January 6th.
Acting Secretary Miller thought the 10,000 number was astronomical— "we expected 35,000 protesters . . . [and] even if there were more protesters than expected, [we thought] that local law enforcement could handle it"[283]—but, again, this was "no order from the President," just "President Trump banter that you all are familiar with."[284]
Parallel Plans in the Midst of Crisis. While the Army and the District engaged in the "heated"[285] 2:30 p.m. phone call, Secretary McCarthy was hurrying down the Pentagon hallways to Acting Secretary Miller's office. General Milley had been summoned there before Secretary McCarthy arrived with General McConville in tow,[286] "running down the hall, and he was actually winded when he showed up . . ."[287]
The next half hour was spent in "a quick, rapid fire meeting, [with] lots of quick questions."[288] Secretary McCarthy—out of breath—said he started by saying, "We've got to go. We've got to get something—we've got to put every capability we can up there."[289] The response he received was, "They were all kind of, like, 'Slow down. What's going on?' They wanted to get a sense of the situation."[290] Secretary McCarthy said it took about 15 to 20 minutes to "relay this," "laying out what I thought we needed to do."[291]
By 3:04 p.m., Acting Secretary Miller said he approved deployment of the DC Guard to assist law enforcement at the Capitol at that time.[292] Acting Secretary Miller did not understand why Major General Walker—if he felt the exigency demanded it—did not deploy troops as soon as his 3 p.m. order allowed it. "Why didn't he launch them? I'd love to know," he said.[293]
Secretary McCarthy agreed "that's where we may have talked past each other in his office," because Secretary McCarthy thought he "had the
