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Fact check: How many witnesses testified about National Guard deployment to the January 6 committee in 2022?

Checked on October 5, 2025

Executive Summary

The materials you provided do not support a definitive count of how many witnesses testified specifically about the National Guard deployment to the January 6 committee in 2022; the dataset includes a reference to 120 interview transcripts released by the House committee but does not tie a specific number of witnesses to National Guard testimony in 2022 [1]. A separate transcript cited in your materials identifies four witnesses who testified about National Guard deployment, but that testimony is dated April 17, 2024, not 2022, so it cannot be used to answer the 2022-specific question [2].

1. What the archive says — a headline that raises more questions than answers

The most concrete figure in the provided record is the House committee’s release of 120 interview transcripts, a broad disclosure of interviews conducted during the Jan. 6 investigation. That release is described as containing details related to the National Guard deployment but the summary in your materials does not enumerate how many of those 120 transcripts concern the Guard or were offered as testimony before the committee in 2022 [1]. This means the dataset establishes a large documentary base but leaves the central counted item—the number of 2022 witnesses addressing the Guard—unresolved, creating an evidentiary gap that requires further sourcing or direct indexing of those transcripts [1].

2. Contradictory data point — four witnesses, but from 2024

One excerpt in your materials explicitly lists four named witnesses who testified about the National Guard deployment: Command Sergeant Major Michael Brooks, Colonel Earl Matthews, Brigadier General Aaron Dean, and Captain Timothy Nick. That source is a hearing transcript dated April 17, 2024, and therefore documents post-2022 testimony about the deployment. Because the date falls in 2024, this clear-count item cannot be used to answer how many witnesses testified before the Jan. 6 committee in 2022; it does, however, show that multiple military personnel later provided firsthand accounts to congressional bodies [2].

3. Multiple sources that discuss Guard timing but avoid a 2022 headcount

Several items in your collection discuss National Guard response issues—delays, miscommunication among military and civilian leaders, and contention between former officials—without supplying a precise 2022 witness count. For example, coverage of the Guard’s delayed deployment and internal miscues is reported in a May 7, 2024 New York Times piece cited in your materials, but that commentary again lacks a rostered tally of 2022 committee witnesses [3]. Similarly, live-reporting or preview pieces about Guard soldiers testifying before other panels mention testimony but do not quantify 2022 testimony numbers [4].

4. Conflicting narratives and partisan claims reflected in the sources

Your materials also contain post-2022 statements and disputes—such as former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund’s criticisms of Nancy Pelosi’s role—that focus on blame and political framing rather than compiling witness counts [5]. These items illustrate competing narratives about what happened and who was responsible, and they demonstrate how political disputes can overshadow archival questions like how many witnesses spoke on a specific topic during a specific year. The presence of these disputes underscores why relying on transcript indexes or the committee’s official records is essential to avoid conflating partisan claims with documentary fact [5].

5. What is missing from the provided evidence — the precise 2022 tally

Nowhere in the supplied analyses is there a clean statement: “X witnesses testified about the National Guard deployment before the Jan. 6 committee in 2022.” The absence of such an explicit count in the provided items means the question remains unanswered within your dataset. The logical next step is to consult the committee’s official transcript index, the Jan. 6 committee’s published report and appendices, or an authoritative catalog of the 120 released interviews to identify which transcripts concern National Guard issues and which of those were presented as testimony during 2022 [1].

6. How to reconcile and proceed — what records to consult next

To close the gap the provided sources leave open, the necessary documentation is procedural: consult the Jan. 6 committee’s official transcript index and the committee’s hearing logs for 2022, cross-reference the 120 released transcripts for mentions of “National Guard,” and review the committee’s 2022 hearing agendas and witness lists. The materials you supplied make clear that documentary disclosure exists (120 transcripts) and that witness testimony about the Guard occurred in other years (the April 17, 2024 hearing listing four witnesses), but they stop short of providing a 2022-specific witness count [1] [2].

7. Bottom line — the dataset’s answer and recommended verification steps

Based solely on the items you provided, no verifiable number can be stated for how many witnesses testified about National Guard deployment to the January 6 committee in 2022; the closest concrete figures relate either to a broad transcript release (120 transcripts) or to a later 2024 hearing listing four Guard witnesses [1] [2]. To establish the exact 2022 figure, consult the Jan. 6 committee’s published transcript index, the committee’s official report appendices, and the 2022 hearing witness lists to generate an evidence-based count.

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