Pentagon To Vet Guardsmen Deployed To DC But Sees No Sign Of Insider Threat - Secretary

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2021) US Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said Monday that the defense department will vet National Guard personnel deployed to Washington ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, but the Pentagon received no intelligence indicating an insider threat.

Earlier in the day, news outlets reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was vetting all 25,000 US National Guard troops who would be involved in ensuring security at the upcoming inauguration to exclude insider attacks.

"As is normal for military support to large security events, the Department will vet National Guardsmen who are in Washington, D.C. While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital," a statement by Miller, published on the department's website, said.

The acting defense secretary stressed that National Guard servicemen were instructed to report to their command on any suspicious activities they noticed.

"The D.C. National Guard is also providing additional training to service members as they arrive in D.C. that if they see or hear something that is not appropriate, they should report it to their chain of command," Miller said.

On January 6, supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential election victory. At least five people, including a female air force veteran, were killed and some 170 cases have been opened by police in connection with the riots. The US House of Representatives impeached Trump last week for inciting the riot. On Saturday, the US Department of Defense said that it would provide 25,000 troops, an unprecedented number, to ensure security during the Biden inauguration on January 20.