- Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said on Thursday that he tried to send his state’s National Guard to help in Washington, DC, but was stopped.
- Hogan said he was “repeatedly” informed that he was not authorized to deploy troops, the Washington Post reported.
- According to The New York Times, the decision to authorize the sending of the National Guard came from Vice President Mike Pence, marking an apparent break with the chain of command.
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While besieged lawmakers pleaded for help, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he was “repeatedly” informed that he had no authority to send his state’s National Guard to help stem the pro-Trump uprising on US Capitol Hill. USA.
According to The Washington Post, Hogan was urged to send troops by House majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.
“In fact, I was on the phone with leader Hoyer, who was begging us to send the guard over,” said Hogan, the Post reported. “He was shouting across the room at Schumer and they kept saying that we have the authorization and me saying, ‘I’m saying that we don’t have the authorization’.”
As rioters smashed windows and forced lawmakers to hide, the Maryland National Guard chief was told he could not come to the aid of the United States Capitol police, according to Hogan.
Ninety minutes later, according to Hogan, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy called him to request the dispatch.
These calls typically come from the United States Secretary of Defense. It was not the only apparent breach in the chain of command on Wednesday. The order to send the National Guard did not come from the commander in chief, President Donald Trump, but from Vice President Mike Pence, according to The New York Times.
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