House Republican leaders sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday demanding that she turn over security decisions her office made leading up to and during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
House Democrats, along with 10 Republicans, impeached former President Donald Trump for one article of incitement of insurrection over the riot at the Capitol. Only seven Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in the upper chamber, allowing Trump to be acquitted by falling 10 votes short of a conviction over the weekend.
Nevertheless, while Democrats blame Trump and the Republicans whom they say enabled him for the violence at the Capitol that day, GOP members point fingers at Pelosi.
“It has been widely reported and confirmed by multiple sources that when Chief [Steven] Sund requested the National Guard be activated ahead of the January 6th Joint Session of Congress, the response from the [sergeant at arms], acting on your behalf, was that the ‘optics’ of having the National Guard on-site were not good and the intelligence didn’t support the move,” top Republicans on the House administration, judiciary, oversight, and intelligence committees wrote.
“Furthermore, on January 6th, in the middle of the on-going attack of the Capitol, Chief Sund again notified the SAA of his request for approval to authorize the National Guard,” they noted. “It took over an hour for his request to be approved because the SAA had to run the request up the chain of command, which undoubtedly included you and your designees.”
The letter, sent by House Administration Committee ranking member Rodney Davis of Illinois, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan of Ohio, House Oversight and Reform Committee ranking member James Comer of Kentucky, and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ranking member Devin Nunes of California, requests that she allow House officials to comply with preservation and production requests about the attack.
Republicans, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, have questioned Pelosi’s role in the security of the Capitol during the attack, to which Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted, “This disgraceful attempt to shift blame for the mob attack on the Capitol is absurd & pathetic. He need only look in the mirror if he wants to start pointing a finger. He has repeatedly cast doubts on results of a fair election & dangerously fanned flames of rightwing quackery.”
Republicans said the speaker’s office and House officials are denying requests for these materials.
“We are very concerned by the obstruction and inability to procure and preserve information from your House Officers when requested. … Preservation and production requests were sent to the SAA and the House Chief Administrative Officer, among other legislative agencies, requesting that such relevant information concerning the attack on the Capitol, including correspondence, video footage, audio recordings, and other records,” they wrote.
Republicans asked Pelosi several questions, including when Sund made a request for National Guard support on Jan. 4 and why it was denied. The GOP lawmakers also questioned if Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving received permission or instruction from her staff on Jan. 4 to reject Sund’s request for the National Guard.
Additionally, Republicans want any conversations and instructions that Pelosi and her staff may have given the sergeant at arms leading up to Jan. 6 regarding the security around the Capitol complex.
Despite Sund’s defense of his department one day after the attack, Pelosi was unconvinced, telling reporters on Jan. 7, “I am calling for the resignation of the chief of the Capitol Police, Mr. Sund, and I have received notice from Mr. Irving that he will be submitting his resignation.”
She added, “Mr. Sund, he hasn’t even called us since this happened.”
