In a recent interview with Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state and Donald Trump’s attorney, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins debunked Gessler’s false assertion that Trump authorized the National Guard to prevent the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Collins referenced a Colorado judge who found Trump guilty of insurrection but did not bar him from the state’s primary ballot in 2024.
She asked Gessler if he disputed the judge’s findings regarding Trump’s behavior on that fateful day, to which Gessler responded with an unsupported claim.
Gessler argued, “He did not act with intent or specific intent at all. We thought the evidence was very clear, that he made efforts to ensure he authorized the National Guard, to make sure that they were available to prevent this type of violence. If you look at his actual tweets –” However, Collins quickly interjected, stating, “He didn’t authorize the National Guard that day.”
Gessler continued to assert his claim, saying, “He did. He did.” However, this conflicts with statements made by Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense on the day of the attack, who testified that there was no order from Trump to deploy troops. Trump himself has falsely claimed that he requested 10,000 to 20,000 troops to quell the violence at the Capitol, while also blaming then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for allegedly turning down the offer, despite her lack of control over National Guard requests at the time.
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Collins didn’t let Gessler’s claim go uncontested. She reminded him that Kash Patel, Trump’s former aide and one of Gessler’s witnesses in the Colorado case, failed to provide any documentation or evidence to support the notion that Trump authorized the National Guard.
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