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By Gerrard Kaonga
US News Reporter
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The January 6 committee has released the audio testimony of former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller in which he said ex-President Donald Trump did not give any order prior to the January 6 Capitol riot to deploy the military.
The video has also gone viral on Twitter and has more than one million views since it was posted on Tuesday.
The audio testimony from Miller contradicts not only what Trump has previously said about his actions to prevent violence on January 6, 2021, but also what Miller has said about Trump's actions.
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Miller was asked by a committee interviewer about comments made by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Fox News in February 2021.
The interviewer quoted Meadows saying that as many as 10,000 National Guard troops were told to be on the ready by the secretary of defense.
When asked if there was any accuracy to the statement, Miller said: "I'm not... not from my perspective.
"I was never given any direction or order or knew of any plans of that nature.
"So I was surprised by seeing that publicly but I don't know the context or even where it was.
"So, no there was... obviously we had plans for activating more folks, but that was not anything more than contingency planning.
"There was no official message traffic or anything."
He was cut off and the interviewer asked for clarification about whether there were or were not 10,000 troops on the ready for January 6 prior to January 6.
He answered: "A non-military person probably could have some sort of weird interpretation, but no. The answer to your question is no.
"That was not part of my plan or the Department of Defense's plan.
He added: "There was no direct... there was no order from the president."
On June 9, 2022, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to say that he offered up to 20,000 National Guard or troops to be deployed.
"The Unselect Committee has now learned that I, as President suggested and offered up to 20,000 National Guard, or troops, be deployed in D.C. because it was felt that the crowd was going to be very large," he posted.
"Crazy Nancy Pelosi turned down the offer, she didn't like the way it looked. Likewise, the Mayor of D.C.
"Had they taken up the offer, there would have been no January 6. The Unselects have ruled Pelosi 'off limits, no questions.' The hearing is another political HOAX to counter inflation etc."
A clip of Miller on Sean Hannity's show has also gone viral showing him say that he testified under oath that Trump authorized 20,000 troops. It is not clear on what date Miller was on Hannity's show, however.
While on the show, former Defense Department official Kash Patel said: "Mr. Trump unequivocally authorized up to 20,000 National Guardsmen and women for us to utilize.
Hannity asked: "Let me be very clear. Both of you said this under oath, under the threat of perjury, to the committee?
Miller replied: "Absolutely Sean and to be clear, Kash brought it up best. The meeting was one of the most serious kinds of heavy meetings I have been in.
"It was about a foreign threat that was directed towards the United States. Obviously, we can't talk to you about that for fear of ending up in jail.
He continued: "The president, as we are leaving, says one more thing and we all sat back down and we discussed what was going on on January 6.
"I think it is important to bring up so that the opposition doesn't get this idea that this was the purpose of the meeting.
"The president was doing exactly what I expect the Commander in Chief to do, he was looking at the broad threats against the United States and he brought this up on his own, we did not bring it up."
Newsweek has contacted Trump's office and Miller for comment.
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