Journalist Adam Ciralsky, writing for Vanity Fair, managed to get himself “embedded” with the Office of the Secretary of Defense for about the last two weeks of the Trump Administration. While the thrust of the article is clear from its title “`The President Threw Us under the Bus’:Embedding with Pentagon Leadership in Trump’s Chaotic Last Week,” ostensibly reporting on the run-up to the Jan. 6 events offers important revelations
Regarding the events of Jan. 6, Ciralsky reports that Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller told him that there was actually a meeting at the White House on Jan. 5:
They were meeting with President Donald Trump on “‘an Iran issue,’ Miller told me. But then the conversation switched gears. The president, Miller recalled, asked how many troops the Pentagon planned to turn out the following day. ‘We’re like, “We’re going to provide any National Guard support that the District requests,”’ Miller responded. ‘And [Trump] goes, “You’re going to need 10,000 people.” No, I’m not talking bullshit. He said that. And we’re like, “Maybe. But you know, someone’s going to have to ask for it.”’ At that point Miller remembered the president telling him, ‘“You do what you need to do. You do what you need to do.” He said, “You’re going to need 10,000.” That’s what he said. Swear to God.’”
Ciralsky reports that he asked Miller why the president threw out such a big number:
