Mark Meadows. Foto: Joshua Roberts/Reuters/NTB

Trumps tidligere stabssjef, Mark Meadows, sier Trump tilbød Kongressen 10.000 nasjonalgardister på 6. januar, men ble avvist som så mange ganger før. Det har kommet frem at FBI var klar over at det ble forberedt uro flere dager før rallyet 6. januar. Tilbudet om forsterkninger gikk til politiet på Capitol Hill, men det ble avslått av politisk ledelse. Hvem er uvisst.

Demokratene bygger riksrettssaken rundt at Trump oppildnet mengden. Hvis planer om angrep forelå mange ganger i forkant, faller det på sin egen urimelighet.

“Even in January, that was a given, as many as 10,000 National Guard troops were told to be on the ready by the Secretary of Defense” Meadows said. “That was a direct order from President Trump and yet here is what we see … all kinds of blame going around but yet not a whole lot of accountability.”

“That accountability needs to rest where it ultimately should be and that’s on Capitol Hill” Meadows added.

Meadows hadde ikke stort til overs for riksrettssaken som begynte tirsdag. Han kalte det politisk teater.

Meadows described the impeachment effort against the former president as “political theater.”

“It’s really about Democrats trying to once again make a political point,” he said. “This whole impeachment is designed to remove someone from office. President Trump is a private citizen at this point. And yet they can’t stand it. They have to continue to go ahead and try to put forth some kind of narrative that scores political points.”

He added, “But we have seen it before. The American people are not going to have it. We have already had 45 senators say that this is unconstitutional. But it’s more than that. It’s a violation of due process. It’s not what our founding fathers set up. And its a very bad precedent of future officeholders.”

Trump Offered to Deploy 10,000 National Guard Troops in DC Ahead of Jan. 6: Mark Meadows