Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accepted responsibility for the lack of National Guard troops at the US Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, according to video footage released by House Republicans on Monday. Rioters stormed the seat of Congress while Pelosi expressed frustration about the lack of “accountability” and took “responsibility” for a lack of security ahead of former President Donald Trump’s “Stop The Steal” rally.
The video clip, shot for an HBO documentary by Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, captured Pelosi telling her chief of staff Terri McCullough that they were responsible for the absence of National Guard troops. Pelosi expressed disappointment in not having more prepared security measures in place. The exchange is part of about 45 minutes of footage handed over recently to the GOP-controlled House Administration oversight subcommittee, according to Politico.
A report on the riot, authored by House Republicans in 2022, found that Democratic leadership had concerns over the “optics” of having National Guard troops present at the Capitol Building in the aftermath of the summer 2020 “Black Lives Matter” protests. Both the House and Senate Sergeant at Arms, as well as the chief of Capitol Police, resigned in the days following the riot.
A spokesperson for Pelosi dismissed the video clip released by House Republicans, accusing them of attempting to “whitewash” Jan. 6. Aaron Bennett wrote on X that numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination and cherry-picked out-of-context clips don’t change that. Three years later, House Republicans are still trying to whitewash January 6th,” he added. It’s shameful, unpatriotic & pathetic.
