Ex-D.C. Guard official accuses Army leaders of lying to Congress about Jan. 6

An ex-Washington, D.C. National Guard official has accused two senior Army leaders of both lying to Congress and secretly attempting to "rewrite the history of the military's response to the Capitol riot" in a report he believes worthy of "the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist," Politico reports.

A 36-page memo written by Col. Earl Matthews calls Gen. Charles Flynn and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt "absolute and unmitigated liars" for how the two have characterized to Congress the events of Jan. 6, including how they responded to pleas to deploy the D.C. National Guard that day.

The missive also rips into the Pentagon inspector general for what Matthews believes was an error-ridden November watchdog report that protected "a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours," Politico reports.

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News of Matthews' document, obtained by Politico, arrives following a separate public call from Maj. Gen. William Walker — then the commanding general of the D.C. Guard — for the Pentagon's inspector general to "retract its detailed report on the events of Jan. 6," Politico writes. Walker called the Pentagon watchdog's memo "inaccurate" and "sloppy work."

When reached for comment, Matthews told Politico the memo he wrote is 100 percent accurate. "Our Army has never failed us and did not do so on January 6, 2021," he said. "However, occasionally some of our Army leaders have failed us and they did so on Jan. 6. Then they lied about it and tried to cover it up. They tried to smear a good man and to erase history." Read more at Politico.