Republicans released a report that showed through texts and emails that the office of Nancy Pelosi was directly involved in the Capitol security on January 6. Security officials said their requests for help were denied over and over. The Democrat led January 6 committee ignores this too. After the Black Lives Matter protests and the National Guard being visible, Democrats were concerned about “optics”.
January 6 security was discussed
Several representatives presented texts and emails regarding that discussion. Reps. Kelly Armstrong, Jim Banks, Rodney Davis, Jim Jordan, and Troy Nehls were involved back to December of 2020.
They talked with Pelosi’s chief of staff Terri McCullough and Jamie Fleet, another aide. A top aide edited some of the plans.
January 6 was partisan
In July 2021 Kevin McCarthy selected five Republican representatives to serve on that committee including Jordan and Banks. Pelosi rejected all of them. McCarthy protested by pulling the remainder of the nominations.
Most of the security meetings involved Democrats alone. The report noted,
“Then-House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving—who served on the Capitol Police Board by virtue of his position—succumbed to political pressures from the Office of Speaker Pelosi and House Democrat leadership leading up to January 6, 2021. He coordinated closely with the Speaker and her staff and left Republicans out of important discussions related to security.”
Pelosi forced Irving out
A staffer wrote to the House sargeant at arms that Irving and Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund were the patsies to cover up for the lack of security on January 6. The staffer wrote to Irving too.
“For the Speaker’s knee-jerk reaction to yesterday’s unprecedented event (and God knows how Congress lives for its knee-jerk reactions and to hell with future consequences . . . ). to immediately call for your resignation . . . after you have been denied again and again by Appropriations for proper security outfitting of the Capitol (and I WROTE several of those testimonies, dangit) . . . and to blame you personally because our department was doing the best they could with what they had and our comparatively small department size and limited officer resources . . . and because other agencies stepped in to assist just a fraction too late . . . again, for Congress to demand your resignation is spectacularly unjust, unfair, and unwarranted. This is not your fault. Or Sund’s fault. If anything, Appropriations should be hung out to dry.”
Pelosi lied about January 6
Among many other things. February 2021 she said she had “no power” over security or the Capitol police. The report said, “Documents provided by the House Sergeant at Arms show how then-House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving carried out his duties in clear deference to the Speaker, her staff, and other Democratic staff.”
For Irving doing his duties out of respect, he was let go. The report said he was distracted.
“Officers on the front lines and analysts in USCP’s intelligence division were undermined by the misplaced priorities of their leadership. Those problems were exacerbated by the House Sergeant at Arms, who was distracted from giving full attention to the threat environment prior to January 6, 2021 by several other upcoming events. Leadership and law enforcement failures within the U.S. Capitol left the complex vulnerable on January 6, 2021. The Democrat-led investigation in the House of Representatives, however, has disregarded those institutional failings that exposed the Capitol to violence that day.”
