A video released by the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight shows then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claiming responsibility for security failure during the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol event.
Pelosi says in the video, “We have responsibility, Terri,” referring to her Chief of Staff Terri McCullough.”We did not have any accountability for what was going on there, and we should have.”
“This is ridiculous. You’re going to ask me in the middle of the thing when they’ve already breached the inaugural stuff that should we call the Capitol police — I mean the National Guard? Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?”
“They thought that they had sufficient resources,” an individual off-camera said.
Pelosi responded, “They clearly didn’t know. And I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.”
The video was reportedly recorded by Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra, as she was filming a documentary.
Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, told “Just the News, No Noise” that the video reveals that the “speaker herself admitted that they were not prepared.”
“It is surprising to me that she did say, ‘Hey, I am taking responsibility for this,’ then the select committee spends $18 million, trying to say that it was Trump’s responsibility that the National Guard wasn’t there and that the Capitol was breached,” he added.
Donald Trump suggested that 10,000 troops would be needed to keep the peace during protests, according to transcripts of an interview with former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato.
“And I remember the number 10,000 coming up of, you know, the President wants to make sure that you have enough. You know, he is willing to ask for 10,000. I remember that number. Now that you said it, it reminded me of it,” Ornato said. “And that [Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser] was all set. She had, I think it was like 350 or so for intersection control and those types of thing not in the law enforcement capacity at the time. And then that’s the only thing I recall with that number 10,000 National Guard guardsmen.”
Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund responded to the video, saying that his “story hasn’t changed.”
Sund previously said he asked the House and Senate for the D.C. National Guard to be prepared in the event of a widescale protest, but his request was denied.
