Capitol is east," Chief Contee said.[65] "[I]f you move them anywhere east of Ninth Street, they will be close to the Capitol. That was certainly the way I understood it."[66]
Director Rodriguez worried "that it constrained our ability to react quickly if the situation got out of hand."[67] Without the limitation, the District fully intended to post its resources farther east: "[W]e couldn't get as close to the Capitol as could have been helpful," Mayor Bowser said.[68] "[W]e would have had a broader traffic box."[69]
Fears of Politicizing the Military in an Antidemocratic Manner. Both Acting Secretary Miller and Secretary McCarthy were sensitive to the sight of troops near the site of the Congressional certification of electoral votes, because of President Trump's previous expression of interest in using Federal troops in civilian situations. Again, Attorney General Barr and other members of the Trump Administration had resisted President Trump's desire to deploy such troops. Secretary Esper said it "tended to be the case . . . that the President was inclined to use the military," contrary to longstanding principles of reserving the armed forces as a last resort.[70]
According to his testimony, Acting Secretary Miller's express first priority—after being installed with just two months left in the Trump administration—was "to make every effort to return the Department of Defense to a nonpoliticized entity," because previously, "the Department was being showcased too much."[71] In testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform on May 12, 2021, he cited "fears that the President would invoke the Insurrection Act to politicize the military in an antidemocratic manner" as shaping his thinking.[72] "No such thing was going to occur on my watch," he wrote,[73] later adding that "if I would have put troops on Capitol Hill" before the attack and without a request from civil authorities, "that would have been seen as extremely provocative, if not supporting this crazy narrative that the military was going to try to overturn the election."[74]
Secretary McCarthy felt similar pressure. He had been taken aback when—as he was walking down the Pentagon's hallways—"one of the most seasoned reporters" asked him whether the Army was planning to seize ballot boxes.[75] It was "an incredibly tense period," according to Secretary McCarthy.[76] As our investigation has demonstrated, President Trump had considered proposals from Lt. General (ret.) Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, and others that troops be utilized to seize ballot boxes in certain parts of the country.
On December 18, 2020—the same day as the contentious White House meeting with Flynn and others,—Secretary McCarthy issued a statement, "mirror[ing] what General Milley said about a month before,"[77] reiterating that "There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an
