House Republicans suggest Pelosi responsible for security failure during Capitol riot

‘Clearly, these members are trying to deflect responsibility for the Capitol attack from Donald Trump,’ House Speaker’s chief of staff says

In a letter to Nancy Pelosi, four House Republicans who supported Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn election results suggested that the House Speaker is partly to blame for security failures during the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January, during which pro-Trump rioters ransacked her office.

Congressmen Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Rodney Davis and James Comer demanded answers to their questions about her “responsibility for the security of the Capitol” and criticised her “hyperbolic focus on fabricated internal security concerns” in a letter accusing her of leading a “political charade” after she supported installing magnetometers at the Capitol.

“Five weeks have passed since the ... attack on the Capitol building, and many important questions about your responsibility for the security of the Capitol remain unanswered,” they wrote on Monday.

The lawmakers suggested that Speaker Pelosi was involved in denying requests from then-Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund for support from US National Guard troops, despite then-Sergeant of Arms Paul Irving saying that he did not discuss that with her.

Mr Sund told The Washington Post that his requests for help to security officials were rejected or delayed six times before or during the attack. Both the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms as well as the Department of Defence turned down his requests, according to Mr Sund.

Speaker Pelosi’s chief of staff Drew Hammill said in a statement to Forbes that the congressmen’s letter is a “transparently partisan attempt to lay blame on the speaker” in an attempt to deflect blame for their roles supporting the former president’s false claims of election fraud that fuelled the attack.

“Clearly, these members are trying to deflect responsibility for the Capitol attack from Donald Trump,” Mr Hammill said. “We look forward to these Ranking Members asking these same questions of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”

Neither the congressmen nor their Senate counterparts raised similar questions with the GOP leader.

Congressman Andy Biggs, among Republicans with ties to organisers behind the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the riot, accused Speaker Pelosi of “deflecting from legitimate questions” about Capitol security.

Speaker Pelosi on Monday announced plans to form an independent commission to “investigate and report on the facts and causes” surrounding the attack on the Capitol and the “interference with the peaceful transfer of power” during the joint session of Congress to certify election results on 6 January.