Chad Wolf, who resigned from his position as acting Homeland Security Secretary earlier this week, said Thursday he has "every trust and confidence" that security for the upcoming inauguration will run well despite his widely panned decision to step down before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.
"I heard that criticism," Wolf said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "It is made by individuals who don't know how the system works. The thing in place throughout this week and next week is run by professional law enforcement individuals."
These include the Secret Service, the Department of Justice, the National Guard, the D.C. Metro police, and others, Wolf noted, pointing out that his replacement, Peter Gaynor, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will have "very little" to do other than to ensure coordination continues to occur.
"I will say the acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security is our chief operating officer, and he remains in his post, so I see almost no issues with the leadership at the department," said Wolf. "The inauguration security is being managed from the United States Secret Service and other professional law enforcement officers. I have every trust and confidence in their ability to do their job at the end of the day."
Wolf served for 14 months as acting secretary and stepped down after the violence at the Capitol. However, he has pointed out that his decision came because of court actions challenging the validity of his appointment as acting secretary, and said Thursday he did not see a "legal path forward" to stay on as acting secretary. He does, however, remain with the department.
Wolf also commented on the events at the capital, noting that he's said "publicly on several occasions now" that President Donald Trump's words to the protesters did "matter."
He added, though, that the "criminals" who rioted "have a lot of blame for their actions themselves."
"I would just pivot a little bit to the events we saw over the summer ... at that time there were very few outrages," said Wolf. "The president's words do matter. Supporters and others listen to him. I expressed my disappointment in him not coming out sooner but he has done it since then."