[ Editor’s Note: Surprise, surprise. As we peel the onion on the Capitol attack we do not dig too far before we find experienced DC security people quite sensitive to taking any actions which could expose them as attractive scapegoats from either Dems or Repubs unhappy with what they did.
So in the end they did nothing, and ended up taking the rap and getting fired, and quickly. Capitol Police Chief Sund resigned quickly to get out of the political machine-gun fire he knew would be triggered by the event. We finally hear his side today, which is quick by Washington standards.
House Sergeant of Arms Paul Irving was in the same spot, not wanting to be targeted as an “instigator” if it leaked out that the Guard was being activated to be on call.
But I view this as a mistake, as the security people could have bounced the call to the House and Senate leadership with their ‘recommendations’ but put the decision into their laps.
They then could not fairly be blamed for dodging responsibility due to the obvious political implications of one side or the other being angry no matter what the security people did.
That said, the Trump militia generals are not sitting on their behinds, but threatening a round two assault triggered by what happens on the 25 amendment and impeachment fronts to attack federal buildings in their respective states.
This will not be over soon folks, but watch to see what Trump or his remaining staff says about protecting the country from further insurrections. His staff will be in no hurry to jump on the funeral pyre, and nor will Trump, who prefers that losers and suckers handle the real fighting while he watches from the rear. … Jim W. Dean ]
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Outgoing Capitol Police chief: House, Senate security officials hamstrung efforts to call in National Guard – Washington Post
First published … January 01, 2021
Two days before Congress was set to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was growing increasingly worried about the size of the pro-Trump crowds expected to stream into Washington in protest.
To be on the safe side, Sund asked House and Senate security officials for permission to request that the D.C. National Guard be placed on standby in case he needed quick backup.
But, Sund said Sunday, they turned him down.
In his first interview since pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Sund, who has since resigned his post, said his supervisors were reluctant to take formal steps to put the Guard on call even as police intelligence suggested that the crowd President Trump had invited to Washington to protest his defeat probably would be much larger than earlier demonstrations.
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he wasn’t comfortable with the “optics” of formally declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstration, Sund said. Meanwhile, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger suggested that Sund should informally seek out his Guard contacts, asking them to “lean forward” and be on alert in case Capitol Police needed their help.
Read the full WaPo article here.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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