A former top attorney for the DC National Guard has accused Army officials of retaliating against him for claiming to Congress that two top Army officers lied about why the Guard deployment was delayed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol , according to a complaint filed with the Department of Defense and obtained by The New York Times.
Col. Earl Matthews, who previously served in the Trump administration and was the top lawyer for the DC Guard during the Jan. 6 attack, said in the complaint that he was retaliated against after he accused two generals in a report to Congress of making false statements. statements about the delayed implementation, an issue that has led to multiple and often conflicting stories.
“It’s whistleblower retaliation by the book. I wrote that memo because I saw real misconduct,” Colonel Matthews said in his first interview since the incident. “I love the US military. To me, this is about the values of the military.”
A copy of the 37-page retaliation complaint against whistleblowers was submitted to the Pentagon’s inspector general in October, two months before the third anniversary of the attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob seeking to halt the certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
It underscores how many questions remain about aspects of the government and law enforcement response to the deadly attack on the Capitol.
At the center of this particular dispute is a still-simmering feud within the military over who is responsible for the more than four-hour delay in deploying the National Guard as the rioters forced their way to the Capitol, attacking dozens of police officers. the way in which members of Congress, their staffs, and others who work in the building are endangered.
Col. Matthews, who has been involved in key meetings on the Guard deployment, said he initially gave his account of what happened to Congress in 2021 after seeing top Army officials try to downplay their role in the delay.
In particular, Colonel Matthews said he was outraged by a report that he said was overseen by Army Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt and which he described as a “misleading, factually flawed and revisionist recitation of events” that according to him, it marked a change in the situation in the history of the army. blame for the delay on the leadership of the DC National Guard. He was also angry about what he considered an erroneous report from the Defense Department’s inspector general, which relied on some of the same material.
Colonel Matthews drafted a 36-page memo that he submitted to the House committee on January 6, accusing General Piatt and General Charles Flynn of being “absolute and outright liars” in their testimony before Congress.
In the fall of 2022, the Biden White House denied General Piatt a promotion after Colonel Matthews raised concerns about his testimony.
Not long after, Colonel Matthews said, he faced retaliation.
In February 2023, Colonel Matthews, who at the time was assigned to the Army War College as part of the Army Reserve, said he was falsely accused of unprofessional conduct. He said he was also listed as a person of concern who might try to disrupt a military conference in Virginia attended by General Piatt, and was escorted from a hotel where the seminar was being held by security personnel.
Colonel Matthews said he was also denied consideration for promotion despite being selected for brigadier general by a promotion board.
In the interview, Colonel Matthews said he did not believe General Piatt ordered or knew of the retaliation and blamed lower-level officials at the Army War College. One of these officials acknowledged that Col. Matthews’ “widespread attacks on senior military leaders in connection with the January 6 insurrection” played a role in his belief that Col. Matthews should be removed from office, the complaint said.
The complaint was filed with the Pentagon’s inspector general by attorneys Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid through the organization Whistleblower Aid. It said the alleged retaliation not only cost Colonel Matthews money in the form of lost salary and pension, but also caused “serious reputational damage, significant personal embarrassment and public humiliation.”
Colonel Matthews requests that the Inspector General recommend that he be assigned to Brigadier General and that those who took revenge on him be reprimanded and punished.
He also wants any false or misleading testimony about the National Guard delays corrected in the congressional record.
As the riot unfolded on January 6, General Flynn, who commanded US Army Pacific, and General Piatt, the director of the Army Staff, were involved in a phone call with police leaders in which Army officials worried aloud about the “optics” . of sending in the Guard, according to congressional testimony from the commander of the D.C. National Guard.
General Flynn is the brother of Michael T. Flynn, a former Army general who served as President Donald J. Trump’s first, short-lived national security adviser. Michael Flynn later played an active role in overturning the 2020 election, urging Mr. Trump to use the government apparatus to seize voting machines.
Charles Flynn told Congress that he had not participated in the conversation, but only overheard parts of it when he entered the room. He said he had not heard any discussion of political considerations regarding sending in the Guard.
“I did not use the word ‘optics’ nor did I hear the word used during the conversation on January 6, 2021,” he said.
But Col. Matthews called General Flynn’s comments “outright perjury” and said he “heard him say unequivocally that the optics of a National Guard presence on Capitol Hill was a problem for him.”
Colonel Matthews cited a series of other contradictions with the testimony of General Piatt and General Flynn.
Colonel Matthews pointed out that General Flynn gave conflicting testimony at several locations. That included asserting to the House Oversight Committee that a team under his leadership was “working immediately” to begin deploying the Guard to the Capitol, even though he later told the Jan. 6 Committee that such actions were not fell within his jurisdiction.
An Army spokesperson has defended the men, calling them “open, honest and thorough in their sworn testimony with Congressional and DOD investigators” and saying the Army stands behind “all testimony and facts provided to date.”
The Pentagon’s inspector general declined to comment. An Army spokeswoman said she could not comment on a pending case.
In the interview, Colonel Matthews also accused the now-defunct January 6 House committee of failing to hold a hearing on security deficiencies during the 2022 investigation because of a decision to focus on Mr. Trump’s actions.
“They were focused on the president, and I understand that,” he said, “but the security lapses need to be looked at because we don’t want this to happen again. And I don’t think that happened.”
Colonel Matthews’ experience on January 6 is largely consistent with accounts from other District of Columbia officials and law enforcement agencies involved in the response that day, including an account from former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund, who said the Pentagon is more concerned about “optics” than quickly deploying the National Guard.
“I called the Pentagon and advocated for the National Guard,” he said in an interview about his book “Courage Under Fire.” “There was delay after delay after delay.”