The January 6th U.S. Capitol attack just keeps getting uglier
The GOP remains fixated on not daring to address the criminal behavior of their cult leader, Donald J. Trump, no matter the cause. The right loves to accuse the left of having Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it turns out the right is deranged in blindly following their fuhrer.
According to a Daily Kos report, the then-Acting Defense Secretary, Christopher Miller, issued a memo to the Secretary of the Army, telling him to limit the National Guard forces during the Capitol attack. This is despite being warned according to Congressional testimony last week that:
“the January 6th event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. We knew that militia groups and white supremacist organizations would be attending. We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target.”
Shockingly, the limits included: “Miller responds promptly to go ahead, so long as the soldiers are given no weapons, no body armor, and no helmets. They cannot bring agents like pepper spray or flashbangs. They can’t share any gear with Capitol Police or Metro D.C. Police. They can’t … really do much of anything.”
Somehow, in some manner, the criminal conduct and assistance by Trump and his followers must be addressed. Our nation cannot simply move on because Republicans are afraid of being primaried in the next midterms.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.