'No stone unturned': All 25K National Guard troops for Biden's inauguration to undergo extra vetting

WASHINGTON – Officials are doing background checks on National Guard members deployed in Washington, D. C., out of a sense of caution, not because they suspect that any are dangerous, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said Monday.

"While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital" ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, Miller said in a written statement. He added that "this type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events."

Miller noted that more than 25,000 Guard members are involved in inaugural security. More than 20,000 had been previously reported for Washington, dwarfing the number of U. S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press on Sunday that he warned commanders to be on the lookout for problems within their ranks. He said so far the vetting hadn’t flagged any issues that they were aware of.

“We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy said.

While the military routinely reviews service members for extremist connections, the FBI screening is in addition to any previous monitoring.

Concern about extremism in the military has spiked after troops and vetera... (Read more)

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