What should have been a straightforward order for the District of Columbia National Guard to quell rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 turned into an hours-long debacle ensnared by concerns over “optics” and interference by Pentagon officials who were not even in the Guard’s chain of command.

Those conclusions were reached by former D.C. National Guard Col. Earl G. Matthews, three additional former Guard members who testified before a U.S. House subcommittee on April 17, and a senior civilian Army official who spoke to Blaze News.

They say the National Guard was wrongly blamed for the delay when it was senior Pentagon officials who interfered with the deployment and then covered up their role in the snafu in congressional testimony and accounts to the Department of Defense Inspector General.

“There’s no reason why the Guard should not have been deployed immediately,” said Casey Wardynski, former assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and Reserve affairs. “They were both trained and equipped for it, and they were offered up ahead of time.”