Former Defense secretary Miller blames Trump’s speech for Jan. 6 insurrection

“It seems cause-and-effect,” Miller said. “The question is, did he know he was enraging the crowd to do that? I don’t know.”

Miller’s comments are among the sharpest criticism Trump has received from those inside his administration for his actions on Jan. 6. Trump was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate after being charged with inciting the insurrection.

Miller has been criticized for not mobilizing National Guard troops quickly enough during the insurrection. D.C. National Guard chief William Walker testified that it took hours for Miller to approve troop deployment. Military officials were wary of how troop presence could be perceived, Walker said. Robert Salesses, a senior Pentagon official, testified that Miller wanted to take time before deploying the Guard to better understand how they would be deployed.

In a clip of the interview, Miller said he didn’t speak with Trump on Jan. 6.

Miller, whom Trump named to be acting secretary of the agency in November after he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, defended his response in the interview.

“It comes back to understanding how the military works — this isn’t a video game, it’s not Halo, it’s not Black Ops Call [of] Duty,” Miller said.

Source:Politico