WASHINGTON -- Christopher Miller, the former senior Trump administration official who presided over the Pentagon's Capitol-riot response, told lawmakers Wednesday that he believed "an organized conspiracy with assault elements in place" orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The assessment -- a departure from Miller's previous public statements about what led to the assault on Congress -- set off a political mudfight, as Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee accused the former acting defense secretary of "incompetence" and being "disloyal to the country," while Republicans accused their counterparts of harassing the hearing's witnesses to further what they characterized as a partisan investigation.
Wednesday's hearing marked the first time Miller has testified publicly before a congressional committee investigating the insurrection, which he described as "an act of terrorism." His highly anticipated testimony was viewed as an opportunity for congressional investigators to fill in key gaps in their understanding of the security lapses that occurred Jan. 6 and to seek accountability for an hours-long delay before armed National Guard personnel responded to lawmakers' frantic pleas for help.
Instead, Miller offered defiance, refusing to share fault for the failures that transpired -- and blaming officials on Capitol Hill for never sending the Pentagon a "valid request."
[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VetGNKClXzo]
The hearing turned combative early on, when Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., pressed Miller about whether then-President Donald Trump's Jan. 6 speech, during which Trump implored thousands of his supporters amassed near the White House to "fight like hell," had incited the riot.
Miller, appearing remotely via a live video feed, said he did not believe Trump's speech was the only reason for the day's violence, citing the apparent degree of prior planning undertaken by some of the rioters.
Lynch suggested Miller was contradicting the written testimony he provided the committee ahead of Wednesday's hearing, in which he stated that he believed Trump's comments had encouraged the protesters.
"Absolutely not, that's ridiculous," Miller said.
"You're ridiculous," the congressman shot back.
In the full written statement Miller submitted to the committee, he detailed multiple conversations with Trump in the days before the riot. Trump, Miller said, indicated that the Pentagon should give District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, any support she requested, and guessed that "they" would need 10,000 troops on Jan. 6 to contain the throngs of Trump's supporters who came to the nation's capital for a "Stop the Steal" rally.
Miller omitted those passages from the opening statement he delivered Wednesday, though later on, under questioning from lawmakers, he affirmed those points.
But when asked by the panel's chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., whether Trump upheld his constitutional oath, Miller was resolute in defending the former president. "Yes," he replied.
Miller's sparring with the committee overshadowed the testimony of the hearing's two other witnesses, District Police Chief Robert Contee III and Jeffrey Rosen, Trump's acting attorney general at the time of the attack.
But Rosen, also making his first public appearance before a congressional committee investigating the riot, did not escape scrutiny.
Rosen told lawmakers that, although no one had requested it, he directed various Justice Department agencies to take preliminary steps to prepare for the riot.
Throughout the hearing, Republicans scolded Democrats for "badgering" the former Trump administration officials and "partisan finger-pointing." Several accused the panel's Democrats of "hypocrisy" for investigating only the circumstances surrounding Jan. 6 and not last summer's racial justice protests that flared in several U.S. cities after the killing of George Floyd, some of which turned violent.
"You can't ignore some acts of violence and use others for political gain," said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the panel's top Republican.
But some from the GOP's ranks went after the witnesses, too. In one tense exchange, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., asked Rosen "who executed Ashli Babbitt," a pro-Trump protester shot by Capitol Police when trying to enter the House chamber. Rosen said he was aware of Babbitt's death but declined to discuss the case in any detail.
Miller testified that responsibility to call up the District National Guard had been delegated to him by Trump well in advance of Jan. 6, but that he resisted Bowser's early calls to deploy those troops for fear they would either be pilloried for trampling First Amendment rights or somehow "co-opted in an effort to overturn the election."
Miller approved unarmed troops, per Bowser's request, on Jan. 4, he said.
Miller said he never spoke to Trump on Jan. 6., though he did speak to Vice President Mike Pence as the attack unfolded. Miller said he approved the full deployment of the National Guard at 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, and that the order was transmitted to the head of the District Guard four minutes later. The first armed troops arrived at the Capitol at 5:22 p.m.
But Miller's timeline differs from the Pentagon's official rundown of events. He conceded, under questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., that he did not give approval to the final mobilization plans until 4:32 p.m. -- after speaking with Pence, and nearly three hours after Bowser first called him.