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- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Thursday that he tried to deploy his state’s National Guard to assist in Washington, DC, but was thwarted.
- Hogan said he was “repeatedly” told he lacked the authorization to deploy the troops, The Washington Post reported.
- According to The New York Times, the decision to authorize National Guard deployments ultimately came from Vice President Mike Pence, marking an apparent break with the chain in command.
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As besieged lawmakers pleaded for help, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he was “repeatedly” told that he lacked the authority to deploy his state’s National Guard to help put down the pro-Trump insurrection at the US Capitol.
According to The Washington Post, Hogan was urged to deploy the troops by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“I was actually on the phone with Leader Hoyer who was pleading with us to send the guard,” Hogan said, The Post reported. “He was yelling across the room to Schumer and they were back and forth saying we do have the authorization and I’m saying, ‘I’m telling you we do not have the authorization.'”
As rioters smashed windows and forced lawmakers into hiding, the head of the Maryland National Guard was told he could not come to the aid of US Capitol police, per Hogan.
Ninety minutes later, according to Hogan, the secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, called him to request the deployment.
Typically such calls come from the US Secretary of Defense. It was not the only apparent breach in the chain of command on Wednesday. The order to deploy the National Guard came not from the commander in chief, President Donald Trump, but rather Vice President Mike Pence, according to The New York Times.
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