For more than three years, Democrats, the news media, and a fair share of Republicans have insisted Donald Trump was solely responsible for security failures at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Never mind he already had warned of potential violence—not at the hands of his supporters but by BLM and antifa thugs who tried to burn down the nation’s capital for weeks after George Floyd overdosed in May 2020 then attacked pro-Trump demonstrators on the streets of D.C. during “Stop the Steal” events in November and December 2020—and urged deployment of the National Guard for that day.
Never mind the president is not the individual responsible for protecting Congressional buildings and grounds. Or that Washington happens to have more law enforcement and intelligence agencies than any other city in the nation.
No, the American people repeatedly have been told that Trump abdicated his duty and enabled the breach of the Capitol to delay Congress’ official certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Perhaps no one has pushed that allegation more forcefully than Nancy Pelosi, the former Speaker of the House.
The day after the four-hour disturbance that only temporarily delayed the electoral college vote, Pelosi blamed Trump for inciting an “armed insurrection” that will “forever stain our nation’s history.” Pelosi also called for the resignation of then-Capitol Police chief Steven Sund on January 7; Pelosi’s sergeant-at-arms, Paul Irving, voluntarily resigned the same day.
Self-proclaimed fact checkers soon cleared Pelosi of any wrongdoing. “Ms. Pelosi has considerable influence as the speaker, but she is not responsible for the security of Congress,” Nicholas Fandos, political reporter for the New York Times, wrote in July 2021. “That is the job of the Capitol Police, an agency Ms. Pelosi only indirectly influences.”
Of course, “indirectly” did a lot of heavy lifting in Fandos’ assessment. Irving was one of three officials at the time serving on the Capitol Police board, which had denied several requests made by Sund for the D.C. National Guard.
And Pelosi certainly took responsibility for Capitol security when she consented to fencing around the grounds and the installation of metal detectors that even members of Congress had to pass through after January 6. And when she tasked the perpetually unhinged Lt. Gen. Russell Honore with conducting a “security review” in the aftermath of Jan 6.
The public, to this point, has been kept in the dark about Pelosi’s invisible hand related to January 6. Not a single record from her office has been produced; J6 Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson declared Pelosi was “off limits” in any congressional investigation.
Pelosi, however, is not off-limits in the House Republicans’ separate and ongoing investigation. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga), chairman of the House subcommittee investigating the J6 committee and the events of January 6, has discovered the Pelosi/Thompson/Cheney committee deleted evidence, destroyed videos of witness interviews, and manufactured nationally aired testimony of star witnesses (looking at you, Cassidy Hutchinson) among other malfeasance.
Loudermilk also just obtained never-before-seen footage of Pelosi during the ride from the Capitol to Fort McNair on January 6 to seek refuge from her unarmed constituents dressing down her chief of staff for not advising her to contact the National Guard.
Rushing to spin the video once again in Pelosi’s favor—and against Trump—MSNBC twice omitted Pelosi’s apparent confession that she was responsible.
Army Sec Ryan McCarthy, reportedly a Mark Milley loyalist, was the DOD official responsible for authorizing deployment of Nat Guard on Jan 6.
He was MIA as DC Nat Guard Gen William Walker and his team tried to reach him the afternoon of Jan 6 so Walker could send his troops,… pic.twitter.com/PUCtUu8BEJ
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) June 11, 2024
That segment also showed Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer talking to Ryan McCarthy, the Secretary of the Army at the time who now is under fresh scrutiny for his role in failing to authorize deployment of D.C. guardsmen until after 5:00 p.m. on January 6.
Pelosi herself went on MSNBC to further make her case:
But the video—and the Pelosi/MSNBC spin—has opened up a new can of worms at the least opportune time for J6 “insurrection” propagandists. Joe Biden and the Democrats planned on using the “terror attack” of January 6 as a top campaign issue. Instead, the narrative is backfiring as Trump repeatedly promises to free the J6 “political prisoners” and raises unanswered questions including the use of informants and agitators.
Even the normally quiet Chief Sund weighed in on the new video. In rare social media posts, Sund reminded the public how he was denied help:
Pelosi’s panic over the release of the footage is understandable. Once considered a death blow to Trump and the MAGA movement, January 6 is instead emerging as s scandal of historic proportions that threatens to irreversibly destroy the public’s trust in key institutions including the Department of Justice, the military, and the Secret Service.
Pelosi’s performative crocodile tears will do nothing to stop the pursuit of the truth. And, hopefully, accountability.
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Julie Kelly is an independent journalist covering the weaponization of the U.S. Government against her citizens, Follow Kelly on Twitter / X.
Photo “Nancy Pelosi” by Nancy Pelosi. Background Photo “January 6 Riot” by Tyler Merbler. CC BY 2.0.
Imagine how much better off this nation could be if reputable people with a sense of integrity were our political and military leaders.