The Pentagon offered National Guard troops two days before the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building, but that proposal was rejected, former chief of staff Kash Patel has confirmed.
In an episode of EpochTV’s “Kash’s Corner,” Patel, who served as chief of staff to the Acting United States Secretary of Defense under former President Donald Trump, explained why the Capitol breach could have been prevented.
Patel, who also served as a government official in the United States National Security Council and the United States House of Representatives, said that he believes that the offer from the Trump administration was blocked for “political reasons.”
“You have to ask yourself, what happened on Jan. 6? I was chief of staff on the Department of Defense on Jan. 6,” said Patel. “We had offered the Capitol Police and Mayor Bowser of Washington D.C. thousands of National Guardsmen and women two days before Jan. 6, and they turned us down. So it could have been prevented.”
The breach took place during a joint session of Congress when lawmakers met to certify electoral votes submitted by states. The Capitol grounds and building were breached by protestors and some rioters, some of whom wanted to voice their stance against then-Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to intervene in the certification process. Thousands of peaceful protesters remained outside.
Protesters have said they believe widespread fraud occurred in the election and did not like how officials in some states dramatically altered voting rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were many “mistakes” that led to the events that unfolded on that day, Patel said.
“Why on Jan. 6—when it has now been publicly admitted by the FBI that they had information that there could possibly be a situation like that at the United States Capitol—why weren’t the cabinet secretaries under [then] President Trump briefed? Why didn’t the FBI put a thousand uniformed agents around the U.S. Capitol? Where was the fence?” asked Patel.
“These are the mistakes, intentional or otherwise, that led to Jan. 6,” Patel continued. “If you look at the videos from Jan. 6, an entire side of the Capitol—and I believe it’s outside—was totally unmanned. No police officers whatsoever, and that’s where the crowd first came in through.”
