Maryland's governor still baffled by delay in approval for National Guard help

Source: Politico | January 10, 2021 | David Cohen

“All I know is that we were trying to get answers and we weren’t getting answers.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday he still doesn’t know why he couldn’t get rapid approval to send his state’s National Guard to the Capitol amid Wednesday’s insurrection.

“All I know is that we were trying to get answers and we weren’t getting answers. It could have been just the fog of what’s going on,” Hogan, a Republican, told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I was getting called from the leaders of Congress pleading with me to get our guard into the city,” said Hogan of the attack, which left five people dead and disrupted the certification of President-elect Joe Biden. Hogan said it took three hours to get approval to send Maryland’s forces.

State governors control their own National Guard units, as well as accept or reject the use of out-of-state units within their borders. The District of Columbia, however, has no governor, so it must rely on approval and instructions from the Pentagon.

“Our guard mobilized and was ready but we couldn’t actually cross over the border into D.C.,” said Hogan. “Without the OK. It took some time, we had to run it up the flag pole, our generals talking to the Washington generals. We had been mobilizing. We had our police there, we had our guard mobilized and we were just waiting for that call.”

Hogan, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, excoriated him for his role in Wednesday’s rioting.

“There is no question in my mind that he was, he was responsible for inciting this riotous mob,” Hogan said. “That this was an insurrection. You know, they stormed the Capitol, and threatened to kill the vice president and put the lives of people in danger. And he had a huge part, a huge role to play in that.”

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  • Consistent January 10, 2021 at 1:20 pm #46278

    EVERYDAY January 10, 2021 at 6:01 pm #46284

    Many of us want to know why the National Guard was not at the Capitol even before the invasion took place. Anyone who followed social media and listened to the inflammatory rhetoric of Trump and his associates before and during the rally would have known the mob would likely storm the Capitol.

    I suspect the Pentagon may have been waiting for orders from the Commander-in-Chief. The story is that it took hours for him to finally agree to send in the Guard. By not having the NG in place beforehand and refusing to send in the NG till hours later, I believe, even if he was not involved in the planning, Trump knew what would happen and made sure the mob would meet little resistance. He facilitated the violence of that day and the five people who died. Trump should be in prison for sedition and treason..

    Consistent January 10, 2021 at 9:06 pm #46305

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