Sources say Nancy Pelosi’s "conversations" factored into the Sergeant-at-Arms’ decision making about the presence of the National Guard at the US Capitol leading up to the deadly riot on Jan. 6.
According to the Daily Caller, three sources with “direct knowledge” of former Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving’s conversations with the House Admin say that discussions with Pelosi factored into his “blender of decision making.”
The Sergeant at Arms under the authority of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and is one of three officials who are voting members of the Capitol Police Board, which directs the US Capitol Police responsible for security on Capitol grounds.
The sources say that Pelosi’s office previously told Irving that the National Guard was to remain off Capitol Grounds, where the deadly riot ultimately took place. Irving allegedly told the House Admin about these conversations, which allegedly centered around “optics” months ahead of the riot, at a time when the deployment of federal sources to combat civil unrest was widely opposed by Democrats and members of Congress supportive of the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted across cities in the summer.
The Caller reports: “The three sources who confirmed the discussion to the Daily Caller did so under the condition of anonymity, citing the fear of putting a chill on further witnesses to how the security situation unfolded Jan. 6. The discussion, if accurate, raises questions as to what role Pelosi’s office had in the security failures that resulted in the resignations of both Irving and former Chief of Capitol Police Steven Sund.”
“The Speaker’s Office has made it clear publicly and repeatedly that our office was not consulted or contacted concerning any request for the National Guard ahead of January 6th. That has been confirmed by former Sergeant at Arms Irving in sworn testimony before Senate committees. The Speaker expects security professionals to make security decisions and to briefed about those decisions,” said Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hamill, who did not deny the allegations.
“It is our understanding that Committee on House Administration Ranking Republican Member Davis was briefed in advance of January 6th about security preparedness, but took no action to address any security concerns that he might have had,” he said.
Irving, who provided sworn testimony at a Senate hearing on Tuesday over the Jan. 6 riot, testified that he first received a formal request from Capitol Police chief Steven Sund after 2pm on that day. Asked if he ran the request up the chain of command by Sen. Josh Hawley, Irving replied “no.”
The New York Times reported that the House Speaker’s office stated that it approved the National Guard at around 1:43pm. Sund stated he sent a request for help to Irving at 1:09pm, per CNN. Irving said he was only contacted after 2:00pm, according to Axios. Questions remain how Pelosi supposedly approved the request at 1:43pm, in apparent contradiction to the timeline.
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