Former Pentagon official Kashyap “Kash” Patel asserted that the Trump administration did its part to offer National Guard personnel and other resources to U.S. Capitol and Washington police ahead of the chaos on Jan. 6, 2021, in testimony he provided at former President Donald Trump’s 14th Amendment case in Colorado.
The Nov. 1 testimony came on the third day of hearings on the case, in which plaintiffs assert that the 14th Amendment’s Civil War-era “insurrection” clause can be used to prevent President Trump from appearing on the Colorado presidential ballot due to his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.
Mr. Patel, who is a contributor to The Epoch Times, testified for the defense, recalling his understanding of the events surrounding Jan. 6, when he was serving as the chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense.
He stated that authorization to use the National Guard on Jan. 6 came from President Trump and was given to the Department of Defense. However, he also stated that further local authorizations from the Capitol Police and the mayor of Washington were required in order to proceed.
“Absent those requests, we were under the advisement of our legal counsel’s offices that we could not activate the National Guard. We could and did everything we could up to the legal limit to try to begin the processes of getting these folks ready.”
Mr. Patel’s testimony rebutted the plaintiffs’ contention that President Trump didn’t take sufficient action to prevent or end the violence on Jan. 6. Mr. Patel argued that President Trump is only one component of the whole picture and that Capitol Hill and Washington officials would have needed to accept the assistance offered.
“So while we always wish to have done it faster, the timeline in which we did it was pretty amazing given what the men and women had to do on the ground,” Mr. Patel said.
During cross-examination, the attorney for the plaintiffs, Jason Murray, pressed Mr. Patel on a few issues, including his monetary connection to President Trump, whose Save America PAC pays Mr. Patel to be an adviser, and his personal opinions about authority.
Mr. Murray particularly questioned Mr. Patel’s personal opinion on liberal leadership, citing a book about the “deep state” written by Mr. Patel, saying: “Frankly, sir, you think that all liberals or liberal leadership are evil? Right?”
Mr. Patel responded emphatically, calling the assertion “outrageous” and outlining his previous work in other areas of government, noting that he had worked more for the Department of Justice under a Democrat administration than under a Republican one.
“If you want to make that globalization because the cameras are on, you can go right ahead, but I don’t believe that.”
President Trump weighed in on the case in a video posted to Truth Social, saying: “A fake trial is currently taking place to try and illegally remove my name from the ballot.
“I often say that 2024 will be the most important election in the history of our country. The reason for that, and that statement, is that our country is being destroyed by people who have no idea what they’re doing; or even worse, they may very well have an idea. They may hate our country and they may want to see it destroyed.”
He added that the 2024 election “may also be the last election we ever have.”
“If this election doesn’t work, if this election is rigged and stolen, if bad things happen, our country will not survive,” President Trump said.
“If crooked Joe and the Democrats get away with removing my name from the ballot, then there will never be a free election in America again. We will have become a dictatorship where your president is chosen for you. You will no longer have a vote, or certainly won’t have a meaningful vote.”
