During a hearing Wednesday in the House Armed Services Committee, Republicans desperately tried to downplay the rate of radical extremism growing in the military, Politico reported.
After the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, it was revealed that some of the participants were members of the U.S. military or law enforcement officers. An attack on a government building and an attempt to stop legislative business for ideological reasons violate the oath soldiers take.
Republicans, however, are denying that there's any real need for concern.
"We lack any concrete evidence that violent extremism is as ripe in the military as some commentators claim," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) told the committee hearing. "While I agree with my colleagues that these numbers should be zero, this is far from the largest military justice issue facing our armed services."
The comments come after a Pentagon report earlier in March that said domestic extremist groups pose a serious threat to the military, the Associated Press reported at the time.
"Military members are highly prized by these groups as they bring legitimacy to their causes and enhance their ability to carry out attacks," the report said. "In addition to potential violence, white supremacy and white nationalism pose a threat to the good order and discipline within the military."
Still, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) denied the evidence, claiming that "in the absence of data," people risked making "wild suppositions based on our ideological priors."
He went on to complain that there wasn't a Defense Department representative on the list of witnesses. He could have listened to Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón "CZ" Colón-López, who said six days ago, that the DOD wanted to "move fast" on recommendations from the report.
"We're committed to confronting and rooting out extremism in the military," said Colón-López, according to Defense.gov.
Republicans complained that they needed to know the number of extremists in the military, out of millions of service members, before there could be any meaningful action. The DOD is making it part of a military-wide training.
