House Jan. 6 transcripts for D.C. Mayor Bowser, police chief Contee released

In interviews with the House committee, Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III also faulted the Defense Department for not responding more quickly to the Capitol as rioters mobbed the building, while explaining their own reservations about deploying federal personnel on city streets. Bowser also described an attempt by President Donald Trump to take over the city’s police force in the summer of 2020, with some details emerging publicly for the first time with the release of her testimony.

The transcripts of Bowser and Contee’s interviews were part of the latest release of materials from the House Jan. 6 select committee, which this month issued their final report on the attack and recommended that Trump be charged with insurrection and obstruction of Congress.

Trump has blamed Bowser for the chaos on Jan. 6, saying she refused help from the National Guard. But Bowser and Contee said it made sense for the city to ask in advance of Jan. 6 only for unarmed Guard support to help with traffic and free up police for potential mayhem. Federal officers also have jurisdiction over the Capitol grounds, not D.C. police.

“It wasn’t for the Capitol. That is a separate request. It wasn’t for the White House. That is a separate request,” Contee said. “I don’t need military guys with long guns, you know, ushering people coming out of the Metro.”

Even that limited request from the District was met with what Contee described as “unusual” pushback from Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy. Unlike governors, the D.C. mayor cannot deploy National Guard troops on her own. McCarthy said the D.C. National Guard could not deploy east of Ninth Street NW — nine blocks from the Capitol — or be moved at all without explicit Army permission.

Contee called that restriction “odd” but said he assumed federal authorities would request National Guard support as needed and “pivot” in response to an emergency.

“My lesson learned, everybody does not pivot necessarily as quickly as the Metropolitan Police Department does,” he said.

National Guard troops requested by Capitol Police at 2:30 p.m. did not arrive at the building until three hours later. Steven Sund, the chief of Capitol Police at the time of the breach, told the committee his request in advance of Jan. 6 for National Guard support was denied.

By contrast, Contee said D.C. police were at the Capitol less than 20 minutes after being requested, even though the chief had not heard directly from Sund. Bowser said she later told McCarthy, who demanded an explicit Capitol Police request for troops, “Your…