- The US
Army falsely claimed thatMichael Flynn 's brother was not on a call discussing whether or not to dispatch the National Guard to the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. - Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the Army's chief staff of operations, confirmed to The Post that he was present during the teleconference.
- The Army did not immediately confirm why they made the false claim, even though someone in Flynn's role at the Pentagon would ordinarily be involved in the situation.
The US Army falsely denied that Michael Flynn's brother was present during a meeting regarding the military response to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, deputy chief of staff for operations for the US Army and brother of disgraced ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn, confirmed to The Post that he was involved on a call with Capitol Police and Washington, DC, officials discussing the possibility of dispatching the National Guard.
"I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending, as I believed a decision was imminent from the [then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy] and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision," Flynn told The Post. McCarthy departed from his role following the Capitol riots.
An Army official wrote in a statement to The Post on January 12 that Flynn "WAS NOT IN ANY OF THE MEETINGS!"
The Army did not immediately confirm why they falsely claimed that Flynn was not privy to the teleconference regarding the siege, even though someone in such a role at the Pentagon would ordinarily be involved.
"Thank you for the opportunity to comment, however, we have nothing further to add," the Army told The Post via email.
Top Army officials were concerned about sending National Guard troops to the Capitol building during the insurrection due to the "visual" it could portray, according to The Post report.
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned in the wake of the security failure at the insurrection, told The Post that Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, director of the Army Staff, told him and others on a call that he didn't "like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background."
Piatt denied making the comment in a statement to The Post.
"I did not make the statement or any comments similar to what was attributed to me by Chief Sund in The Washington Post article - but would note that even in his telling he makes it clear that neither I, nor anyone else from [the Department of Defense], denied the deployment of requested personnel," Piatt told The Post.
The insurrection that took place on January 6 resulted in five deaths - including one Capitol police officer - prompting lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence to take cover as Capitol police failed to keep rioters from breaching the US Capitol building.
The Army's reported denial of Flynn's presence on the call came after his brother Michael Flynn appeared on Newsmax to suggest that former President Donald Trump should declare martial law and use the US military to "rerun an election in" swing states where Trump believed he had won.
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 18, 2020