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(THE FEDERALIST) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi impeached President Donald Trump in January for her own negligence. As demonstrators flocked to the nation’s capital for a day of protest — some peaceful, some not — the ignored possibility of unrest chalked up to an intelligence failure was even predicted by the Capitol Hill parking attendants.
“Due to the possibility of large scale public protests, access to the Capitol plaza will be restricted,” read an email from the House Parking Team on the eve of the riot. “For the safety and security of personnel on the House campus, we ask that staff strongly consider parking in the Cannon and Longworth House Underground Garages.”
But Pelosi and her team in charge of Capitol security had no idea to prepare for the possibility of turmoil? Worse, reporting shows the speaker’s office deliberately left the Capitol vulnerable.
Four days after the riot, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned his post in the aftermath, told The Washington Post his request for pre-emptive reinforcement from the National Guard ahead of Jan. 6 was turned down. Sund said House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, overseen by Pelosi, thought the guard’s deployment was bad “optics” two days before the raid. Pelosi and House Democrats had previously condemned the presence of federal troops in the nation’s capital to quell the violent mobs overrunning the city in the name of social justice.
In February, The Daily Caller cited three sources familiar with Irvin’s conversations with the House Administration Committee after the riot. The sergeant of arms said discussions with the speaker’s staff were factors in his “blender of decision making.” The Caller’s sources remained anonymous, “citing the fear of putting a chill on further witnesses to how the security situation unfolded Jan. 6.”
“Pelosi’s office had previously impressed upon Irving that the National Guard was to remain off Capitol Grounds, Irving allegedly told House Admin,” The Daily Caller reported.
In a statement to the Caller at the time, Pelosi Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammil denied the speaker’s office was “consulted or contacted concerning any request for the National Guard ahead of January 6th.”
“The Speaker expects security professionals to make security decisions and to [be] briefed about those decisions,” Hammil said.
Despite the Associated Press and Washington Post’s best efforts to run interference for the speaker, suddenly exonerating her of duties overseeing Capitol security, the riot on Jan. 6 was a security failure Pelosi owns. If the “speaker trusts security professionals to make security decisions,” then why, as the police breach unfolded, did Irving feel compelled to seek the speaker’s approval to dispatch the National Guard, as The New York Times reported? How could Pelosi also order the extended shut down of the Capitol to visitors, citing coronavirus, and install metal detectors in the House chamber?
Pelosi’s failures, however, extend beyond the week of the riot itself.
