William posted a comment that allegedly debunks the Republican claim that Pelosi failed to ask for help from the National Guard.
I can understand why William came to this conclusion. The so-called “fact checkers” are misrepresenting the story. (What a surprise.)
The main complaint against Pelosi is that in the days before the Jan. 6 mess, President Trump authorized up to 20,000 National Guard to protect the Capitol. Pelosi and Muriel Bowser declined the offer.
The partisan fact chuckers are saying the complaint is false because Pelosi frantically tried to call in the National Guard after things got out of hand.
This is why we can’t trust the media. They lie, or they use sleazy misrepresentations to distort the story. That’s true even when they call themselves “fact checkers.”
Related: Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots
To whatever extent Republicans try to put blame on Pelosi or Bowser for the riot, that’s outrageous and contemptible. The rioters were responsible for the riot, not Pelosi. But Pelosi did not take reasonable precautions.
QUOTE: The main complaint against Pelosi is that in the days before the Jan. 6 mess, President Trump authorized up to 20,000 National Guard to protect the Capitol. Pelosi and Muriel Bowser declined the offer.
First, what record exists that verifies Trump made such an authorization? Please provide a credible reference, I’d love to see it.
According to the sworn Senate testimony of the USCP Former Chief of Police Steven A. Sund, the complain isn’t accurate relative to activities prior to nor inclusive of Jan. 6. I suggest those who are interested read it, it’s quite informative and reads MUCH differently than the rhetoric of Republicans. https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Sund-2021-02-23.pdf
Sund testified that up to Jan. 6 they received no intelligence that the “mob” would attack the Capitol Building. Albeit there was serious concern, they felt they could successfully mange the event, as they did two similar prior events. Yet, as a precaution, Sund alerted the Sargent of Arms of both the House (reporting to Pelosi) and Senate (reporting to McConnell) and both indicated that based on available intelligence there didn’t seem to be a need for the National Guard. Yet, the Senate Sargent of Arms advised the ex-chief to explore how the National Guard could be on standby. Sund followed that guidance and was informed the National Guard could be on standby. So, a contingency plan was established to involve the National Guard if required “prior” to Jan. 6. There was no stated denial of having National Guard involvement by Pelosi.
SUND TESTIMONY On Tuesday, January 5, I hosted a virtual meeting with my Executive Team, all three principals of the Capitol Police Board, and a dozen of the top law enforcement and military officials from D.C., including the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the National Guard. This meeting focused on both the January 6 event, and the upcoming Presidential Inauguration on January 20. During the meeting, no entity, including the FBI, provided any intelligence indicating that there would be a coordinated violent attack on the United States Capitol by thousands of well-equipped armed insurrectionists. At no time did the Department of Homeland Security issue a threat advisory bulletin in reference to violent extremists planning a coordinated, violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. It should also be noted that the U.S. Secret Service planned to and did escort the Vice President of the United States to the Capitol on January 6, which it obviously would not have done if it believed there to be a threat of a violent insurrection at the Capitol building and on its grounds.
At Mr. Stenger’s direction, I called General William Walker, commanding officer of the D.C. National Guard. I advised that I had not received CPB approval, but wanted to know how many National Guard he could provide and how fast could he provide them if they were needed on Capitol Hill on January 6. He advised that he could repurpose nearby National Guard and have them to me fairly quickly, once approved. I asked General Walker to be prepared in the event that we requested them.
QUOTE: The partisan fact chuckers are saying the complaint is false because Pelosi frantically tried to call in the National Guard after things got out of hand.
Per Sund’s testimony, on Jan 6, once it became apparent that National Guard assistance was needed, the delay was primarily due to government bureaucracy…needing layers of approvals that didn’t happen quickly. As well, video evidence confirms that Pelosi, other congressional leadership and Pence were highly engaged in trying to identify ways to get the situation under control.
SUND TESTIMONY I notified the two Sergeant at Arms by 1:09 p.m. that I urgently needed support and asked them to declare a State of Emergency and authorize the National Guard. I was advised by Mr. Irving (House Sergeant of Arms) that he needed to run it up the chain of command. I continued to follow up with Mr. Irving, who was with Mr. Stenger (Senate Sargeant of Arms) at the time, and he advised that he was waiting to hear back from congressional leadership, but expected authorization at any moment. At 2:10 p.m., I received notification from Mr. Irving that the CPB authorized me to request the National Guard. However, as explained below, I soon learned that our request would also need to be approved by the Department of Defense. At approximately 2:28 p.m., I learned that in order to get authorization for National Guard support, the Pentagon needed to approve the request…The first 150 members of the National Guard were not sworn in on Capitol grounds until 5:40 p.m., four and a half hours after I first requested them and three and a half hours after my request was approved by the Capitol Police Board.
QUOTE: To whatever extent Republicans try to put blame on Pelosi or Bowser for the riot, that’s outrageous and contemptible. The rioters were responsible for the riot, not Pelosi. But Pelosi did not take reasonable precautions.
During a press conference House member Jim Banks asked, “Did Speaker Pelosi communicate with the House Sargent of Arms on January 6 or the days leading up to the riot?” Also, “Was Speaker Pelosi involved in delaying National Guard assistance on January 6?” Why were these questions publicly posed when Sund had testified over year before Bank’s presser and provided insight into some of his questions? As well, given the involvement of the Senate Sargent of Arms in the activities prior to and during Jan 6, why didn’t Banks raise questions about McConnell’s culpability in taking reasonable precautions? Also, given Steve Scalise was a direct witness to the intervention of Pelosi on Jan. 6, it was highly irresponsible of him to endorse the intimations of Jim Banks (which weren’t clear as to time frame).
Interesting sidenote, Jim Banks was caught attempting to inappropriately gain access Jan 6 select committee information, naming himself a “ranking member” of the committee when he was not. And we’re suppose to see this guy as credible?
So, I’m not buying that it’s the fact-checkers misrepresenting the story. If anyone is misrepresenting anything, it’s the Republicans…but that’s to be expected.
What I got from the media is that there simply is no record of Trump authorizing a unit of the National Guard. None. If he did, let him and his defenders show the record. No culpability of Pelosi in denying a such a request has been shown. It has nothing to do with her efforts to stop Trump’s mob from attacking the Capitol, although she did make those efforts while Trump was watching his mob in action and was taking great delight in it, which is indeed a very well verified fact.
Now it looks like the Secret Service at the top level failed. They knew of the clear and present danger of Trump’s mob and kept the relevant information to themselves. The Republican narrative of Pelosi in any way being culpable turns out to be pure BS.
Indeed, there’s now email evidence indicating there was a risk of an attack on January 6 but as you said the Secret Service didn’t share that with the Capital Police. So, if there’s going to be culpability, the Secret Service has to share in that. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Pelosi had anything to do with a denial or delay of the National Guard prior to or during January 6.
As well, what doesn’t make sense is “if” (which I’ve not seen any evidence of) Trump authorized the National Guard to be available prior to, why didn’t he immediately authorize them again on January 6?
Also interesting, Republican accusers don’t assign culpability to any other Republican in their public unfounded allegations…no questions about Trump, McConnell, etc. These questions about Pelosi’s culpability seem to be nothing more than political fodder and red herring to draw attention away from those who were culpable…starting with the Trump mob and any who assisting them plan and execute this attack on the government (which seems to point to the usual suspects).
As I said, these Republican accuser’s behavior is egregious and hits a new low in an already dirty cess pool of politics.
QUOTE: The so-called “fact checkers” are misrepresenting the story. (What a surprise.)
Do you have any evidence that substantiates the “fact checkers” are misrepresenting the story?
There doesn’t seem to be any official records available that supports Republican accusations and intimations. (What a surprise). The sworn Senate testimony of ex-chief of Capitol Police (featured in the article you cited) doesn’t jibe with Republican accounts. As well, the information cited in the following link casts serious doubt on the veracity of Republican claims about Pelosi.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/13/sean-hannity/no-evidence-pelosi-rejected-trumps-authorization-2/
Republicans want us to ingest what flows from their anal cavity as “news.”
I must admit the very thought is disguising but I actually laughed out loud when I read that. 😉 Yet, per a previous sentiment…what a surprise.
I was sincerely hoping Trump would have kept his promise to “drain the swamp”. Alas, it seems to only have been amplified. The dirty game of politics has become a cess pool.
It seems Crowhill made this post to clarify the Republican claim that Pelosi did not take reasonable precautions and to assign blame to lying, partisan fact-checkers for getting the story wrong.
An article cited by Crowhill is entitled,“Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots”. When that title is conflated with the contrived Republican narrative, it’s easy to understand why Crowhill and others of like mind might come an erroneous conclusion.
Yet, the facts are that the Ex-Chief indeed requested National Guard assistance multiple times before and during Jan. 6, but there were no denials directly by Pelosi. In fact, based on his sworn Senate testimony,prior to Jan. 6, requests were made to security officials at the House and Senate. They were denied by those officials because intelligence indicated there was no threat level that required National Guard. Despite that, per the direction of the Senate security official,prior to Jan. 6, the Ex-Chief was able to develop a contingency plan to secure the assistance of the National Guard, if required.
On Jan. 6, several requests were made for the National Guard, but they were initially denied or delayed by other government entities, not Pelosi. As well on Jan. 6., when it became apparent that National Guard assistance was needed, the Ex-Chief went to congressional leadership for approval, and it took approximately an hour to secure it. Yet due to the bureaucracy of other government entities, the National Guard wasn’t available until 3.5 hours after initial approval had been provided.
So, it seems Republicans have created a misleading narrative, with little evidence to back up their intimations. This is why we can’t trust them. They lie, or they use sleazy misrepresentations to distort the story. That’s true even when they call themselves patriots, party of law and order, and defenders of truth of justice.
I agree with Crowhill that to whatever extent Republicans try to put blame on Pelosi for the riot, that’s outrageous and contemptible. The rioters were responsible for the riot, not Pelosi. As well, it’s contemptible that Republicans have publicly claimed that Pelosi did not take reasonable precautions without credible evidence to substantiate such a claim.
Nancy Pelosi is culpable for the storming of the Capitol and now has the audacity to set up a witch hunt to blame Donald Trump, who is a perfectly innocent man.
That is the BS narrative that I am getting from Republicans. I am not so sure how that squares with their other narratives, e.g. “Antifa did it” and “It was just tourists visiting the Capitol.”
The GOP has brought the art of staging a farce to a grotesquely staggering height, previously beyond anyone’s power of imagination.
I guess I’m not surprised they use sleezy misrepresentations and lie. Yet, now they do it with impunity. Even when clear evidence (e.g., texts, emails, voice/video recordings) refute their lies, they and their supporters ignore it and/or tell more lies. I think this gives you a taste of neo GOP values… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMbemddv9Mw
I’ve heard of saying the quiet part out loud, but that’s like screaming it from the rooftops!