Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) made false claims about the actions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the January 6 riot.
The Ohio Republican claimed Pelosi first denied Capitol police’s request for National Guard assistance and then waited nearly an hour to approve a second request – but a Washington Post fact checker found it did not.
The Capitol Police asked the National Guard for help before January 6.
That request was denied by Spokesman Pelosi and her Sergeant at Arms.
During the attack, the Capitol Police made the request again.
It took over an hour to get approval from Pelosi’s team! https://t.co/ctOWZ4PExw
– Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) Feb 15, 2021
Three key Capitol security figures, each of whom resigned under pressure after the insurrection – former Capitol Police Commissioner Steven Sund, former House NCO Paul Irving, and former Senate NCO Michael Stenger – are scheduled for last week testified to Congress about what went wrong.
Sund wrote to Pelosi on February 1 that he had turned to two NCOs for help from the National Guard, for whom he was not authorized to waive an emergency statement from the Capitol Police, but to Irving – who had been He was appointed by former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), not Pelosi, in 2012. He said he was concerned about the appearance and didn’t feel that there was enough evidence of added security.
However, Stenger suggested that Sund figure out how quickly National Guard assistance could be ready if needed, and the former Capitol Police Chief contacted General William Walker, the DC National Guard commander, who said he had 125 troops are ready to act quickly once approved.
“There is no evidence that Pelosi was involved at all,” wrote Glenn Kessley of the Post. “Irving supposedly gave a vague reference to ‘optics’, but there is no indication of what that means. In addition, Stenger, the Senate sergeant, was reluctant to support an immediate dispatch of National Guard troops. So there is little reason to believe that Irving, who acted under Pelosi’s direction, was solely responsible for this. It seemed like a joint decision. “
Irving testified last week that he did not care about the appearance of National Guard troops guarding the Capitol and that he did not see the need to alert House leaders that he could request such assistance by early January 6th . The same stenger shared the former Senate majority with employees of Leader Mitch McConnell.
A Pelosi spokesperson said there had been no discussions between Irving and the House spokeswoman or her staff about the National Guard prior to Jan. 6. Security professionals are expected to make decisions about security.
“Without evidence, Jordan claimed that House Speaker Pelosi had denied a request for National Guard troops two days before the uprising,” Kessley concluded. “Instead, a public testimony shows that she didn’t find out about the request until two days later. Jordan also tried to blame the House NCO, but the testimony shows that the Senate NCO was also not interested in the idea. “
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