A memo by a DC National Guard officer accuses two Army generals of lying to Congress about the response to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the Pentagon of trying to cover up the failures. Gen. Charles Flynn and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt are "absolute and unmitigated liars," Col. Earl Matthews wrote. The issue is whether the generals held up the deployment of the Guard to the Capitol while it was under attack, Politico reports. Matthews also criticized a report by the Army's inspector general that he said is filled with mistakes and covers for the leaders. Flynn is the older brother of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
An Army spokesperson said Flynn and Piatt "have been open, honest, and thorough in their sworn testimony with Congress and DOD investigators." A spokesman for the inspector general's office stood by the findings in its report, per NBC. On Jan. 6, Matthews' job was serving as the top lawyer for Maj. Gen. William Walker, who has called for the inspector general to retract the report, which he said is inaccurate and sloppy. A House special committee is investigating the events of that day, including the Pentagon's response. Matthews' memo has gone to the panel.
Matthews said Piatt and Flynn, on a conference call that afternoon, argued that sending uniformed military personnel to the Capitol would not look good and suggested picking up DC police officers' traffic duties so they could go instead. The two generals then recommended putting the Guard on standby, which the DC Guard's timeline supports. Piatt later provided a written answer to a House panel saying, "At no point on January 6 did I tell anyone that the DC National Guard should not deploy directly to the Capitol." Matthews says that statement was false. (More Capitol riot stories.)
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