Former DC National Guard commander meets with January 6 committee

By Ryan Nobles, Holmes Lybrand and Zachary Cohen, CNN

William Walker, who was the top commander for Washington, DC’s National Guard and responsible for troop deployment in support of law enforcement overwhelmed on January 6, met Monday with the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol, a source familiar with his appearance has confirmed to CNN.

CNN spotted Walker walking into the meeting with committee staff Monday afternoon. As he left the meeting, Walker confirmed to CNN that he had been speaking with the panel.

When asked what had been discussed, Walker replied: “I’m not really supposed to talk about it. It was all about January 6.”

The House panel would not comment to CNN on Walker’s appearance.

Walker was appointed the House Sergeant at Arms in April. On January 6, he was commanding general of the District of Columbia Army and Air Force National Guard.

Walker made waves in March during his testimony to a Senate panel investigating the insurrection. Walker told senators that even though he did not need Pentagon authority to mobilize troops to respond to protests that summer, a memo on January 5 instructed him to seek approval from the secretaries of the Army and Defense before preparing troops to respond to a civil disturbance.

Walker described the additional level of authority needed to mobilize troops as “unusual.” He went on to say it took three hours for Army officials to give him the OK to send his troops in to help — this despite an urgent plea directly to him from the then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.

Newly revealed emails from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have raised additional questions about the National Guard response on January 6.

Meadows sent an email saying the National Guard would be present to “protect pro Trump people” in the lead-up to the insurrection, according to a report released by the House select committee Sunday night.

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