Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office slammed Republicans in the House on Monday seeking answers regarding security decisions leading up to the day of the riot in the Capitol last month, saying they were “clearly” trying to to ward off responsibility for the attack on Donald Trump’s Capitol. . “
House Management Committee Ranglid Rodney Davis, R-Ill., Judges Committee Ranglid Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, House Oversight Committee Ranglid James Comer, R-Ky., And House Intelligence Committee Ranglid Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Sent a letter to Pelosi, D. -California, sent and said that “very important questions” about her “responsibility for the safety” of the Capitol on January 6 “remain unanswered.”
HOUSE REPUBLICAN’S QUESTIONS ANSWERS FROM PELOSI ON SAFETY DECISIONS TO THE CAPITOL RIOT
But Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, told Fox News that the speaker “will act and will continue to ensure responsibility and improve the safety of the Capitol.”
“Two of the four members of the House’s Republican rankings voted the result of a fair election, hours after the Capitol was ousted by a rebellious, right-wing mob – a mob incited by Trump,” Hammill said . As many as 65% of Republicans in the House voted with them to undermine our democracy. All four members also voted to hold Donald Trump accountable for inciting the crowd. ‘
Hammill added: “It is clear that the security of our Capitol and democracy are not the priorities of this ranking.”
The Republicans in their letter to Pelosi on Monday morning said: “When the then Chief Sund made a request for support to the National Guard on January 4, why was the request refused? Did the arms sergeant Paul Irving get permission or instruction from your staff? on January 4 before the Chief Sund’s request for the National Guard was denied? ‘
Davis, Jordan, Comer and Nunes pointed out that Steve Sund, former police chief in the Capitol, claimed that on January 4, he approached the weapons sergeant to request the help of the National Guard. Sund said in a letter to Pelosi last month that Irving replied that he was concerned about “the optics” and did not feel that the “intelligence supported them”.
“As you know, the Speaker of the House is not only the leader of the majority party, but he also has enormous institutional responsibilities,” they wrote. “The speaker is responsible for all operational decisions made within the House.”
The arms sergeant and the arms sergeant, Michael Stenger, were removed from their positions and Chief Sund resigned after the riot.
“It’s the job of the Capitol Police Board, to which these three individuals sat, to properly plan and prepare for security threats facing the U.S. Capitol,” Hammill said. “It has been reported that House Sergeant Paul Irving has said he did not submit a request to the House Leader before January 6.”
Hammill noted that the committees of jurisdiction had been informed ‘from before 6 January’ of ‘security readiness’.
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‘During a briefing by the majority of the Allocation Committee on January 5 by Sergeant Major Paul Irving and the U.S. Capitol Police Chief Sund, both Chief Sund and Mr. Irving gave the assurance that the Capitol complex had comprehensive security and that there was no intelligence grouping. will become violent at the Capitol during the certification of election votes, ”Hammill explained. “It is our understanding that rank member Davis was also informed, but that he took no steps to address the security issues he had.”
Davis’s office told Fox News in response that “no one claims that rank-and-file Davis turned down a request for the national guard before January 6, because he would not have the authority to do so, even if he was not aware of it. requested, which he was not. ‘
“After the uprising, the speaker immediately instructed General Honoré to conduct an immediate security review of the U.S. Capitol complex and called for a 9/11-style commission to investigate, and “Legislation creating such a panel will be introduced in the coming days,” Hammill said. “The USCP is also conducting an internal security review.”
Pelosi met the retired Genl. Russel Honoré appointed to lead a safety review of the events at the Capitol amid calls from members on both sides of the aisle, in both chambers of Congress, to conduct a review.
Republicans scrutinized the appointment of Pelos, saying it was done “without consulting the minority.”
But once again, Hammill fired back and demanded that Republicans make a “transparent biased attempt to blame the speaker, who was a target of assassination during the uprising fueled by the Republicans ‘lies,” saying that’ the rankings are trying to absolve former police chief Sund, former sergeant Stenger and the leader who appointed him, Mitch McConnell, of any responsibility. ‘
“We look forward to these rankings asking the same questions from former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell,” Hammill said.
Hammill also added that Pelosi “knows very well how important it is to have security at the Capitol and is committed to overcoming the issue of the Capitol complex and the events that led to the uprising.”
He added: “It is clear that this Republican ranking does not have this priority.”
Police in the Capitol were scrutinized amid a siege by the Capitol on January 6 during a joint session of Congress to ratify the results of the Electoral College in favor of President Joe Biden.
But Pelosi said last week that she would submit a resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest honor that Congress can bestow – to U.S. police officers in the Capitol and other law enforcers who protected the Capitol during the riots.
“They are martyrs for our democracy, those who have lost their lives,” Pelosi said during her weekly press conference.
Five people were killed when a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, including Capitol U.S. Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42. Two other officers were killed by suicide in the week following the siege.
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“The service of the Capitol Police Force that day brings honor to our democracy. Accepting this reward brings shine to this medal,” the California Democrat said. “We must always remember their sacrifice and be vigilant about what I said before, about what Abraham Lincoln said: the silent artillery of time. We will never forget.”
Former President Donald Trump was indicted by the House for the second time on January 13 for inciting insurgency on January 6. The former president was acquitted by the Senate over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Republicans also claimed that House officials did not provide the necessary documents about the Capitol riot.
“Perhaps we would have more clarity on the timeline of events if Speaker Pelosi had ordered her home officials to comply with the rankings of Davis’ preservation and production requests for information around Jan. 6,” a Davis spokesman told Fox News. “USCP agreed, but the SAA and the CAO, appointed by the Speaker, rejected our requests.”
The spokesman added: “But anyway, Speaker Pelosi must answer these questions honestly: was anyone in her team aware of Mr Sund’s request for the national guard before January 6, the request was rejected due to optics, and why did it took “the SAA more than an hour to approve the request for the national guard in the midst of the riots?”