A legal watchdog that has led the campaign to peel away the secrecy cloaking Democratic planning for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots has turned its attention to calls hosted by retired Gen. Mark Milley with top Pentagon, Justice, Interior and Homeland Security officials.
Judicial Watch today said that after being stonewalled by the Pentagon for details about conference calls hosted by Milley and two other Pentagon officials, it has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get access to reports and transcripts.
It is unclear what those calls covered, although Judicial Watch said that the targeting of “far right” groups has been reported.
The Pentagon and other security agencies have long been at the heart of investigations into how the government readied for protests, but the details of their actions and planning have been sketchy, and Judicial Watch is eager to nail down what the Pentagon wanted and planned and what it was coordinating with Justice and other agencies.
Milley told congressional investigators that he was involved in key calls the week of the riots that came as Congress was certifying former President Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
He told the House Jan. 6 committee led by Democrats, “There was a series of meetings prior to the 6th, and we can get you the exact dates and who’s in the meetings, et cetera, interagency meetings, with acting SecDef Miller [and others]. And I’m involved in those meetings as well. These are in the end of December, so to speak, and then they go all the way up through, I want to say, the 2nd or 3rd or maybe 4th or something like that of January. These are telephonic conference calls to try to figure out exactly what the security measures are going to be for the 6th.”
Judicial Watch sought information on those calls in its broad probe of the government’s reaction to the riots but has so far been rebuffed.
“General Mark Milley and many deep staters at the Pentagon hated President Trump, so their role in January 6 is well worth exploring,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
He also called on current Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to disclose the department’s planning pre-Jan. 6.
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“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should order full transparency and disclosure,” said Fitton.
In a statement about its suit, the watchdog added, “In December 2024, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Justice for details of a reported meeting between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Milley in which they discussed President Trump and during which General Milley pressured Garland to target American ‘far right’ militia movements.”
