“Absolute And Unmitigated Liars”: Former DC National Guard Official Says Generals Fabricated January 6th Account

A former DC National Guard official has accused two senior Army officials of lying to Congress about the circumstances surrounding the January 6th Capitol riot in order to protect a top Army official who didn’t want to send the Guard to the Capitol, Politico reports.

In a 36-page memo sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month, Col. Earl Matthews – who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon positions under Trump – accused Army General Charles Flynn and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt of being “absolute and unmitigated liars” for how they characterized the events of Jan. 6.

Of note, Flynn served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, while Matthews was serving as the top attorney to Maj. Gen. William Walker – then commanding general of the DC National Guard. Matthews was in a unique position to know what happened that day.

Matthews’ memo defends the Capitol attack response by Walker, who now serves as the House sergeant at arms, amplifying Walker’s previous congressional testimony about the hourslong delay in the military’s order for the D.C. National Guard to deploy to the riot scene. -Politico

Matthews accuses Flynn and Piatt of lying to Congress about how they responded to urgent requests for the DC guard to be quickly deployed, and claims that the Pentagon inspector general’s November report on the attack was “replete with factual inaccuracies.”

He says the Army has created its own ‘closely held’ revisionist document regarding the riot that’s “worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist.’

“Every leader in the D.C. Guard wanted to respond and knew they could respond to the riot at the seat of government,” reads the memo.

Instead of responding, however, DC guard officials “set [sic] stunned watching in the Armory” while the attack unfolded for two hours during the certification of the 2020 election results.

The memo follows Walker’s own public call for the inspector general to retract its detailed report on the events of Jan. 6, as first reported by The Washington Post. Walker told the Post he objected to specific allegations by the Pentagon watchdog that Matthews’ memo also criticizes, calling the inspector general’s report “inaccurate” and “sloppy work.” -Politico