Newly surfaced video footage has revealed that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed regret about the absence of the National Guard during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, even as she resisted evacuating the building.
The footage, recently turned over to House Republican investigators and obtained by Just the News, offers fresh insight into Pelosi’s actions and statements on the day Congress was set to certify the 2020 election results.
The video, captured by Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra for a future HBO documentary, shows the then-Speaker expressing frustration as she fled the Capitol through an underground tunnel. “We’re calling the National Guard now? They should have been here to start out,” Pelosi is heard saying, reflecting her regret that the National Guard was not pre-positioned to protect Congress as tensions surrounding the certification grew.
Once again President Trump was right: The biggest reason J6 happened was because Nancy Pelosi turned down the Capitol Police’s request for the National Guard and then lied about it. pic.twitter.com/oPVcSpRoGB
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 28, 2024
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This newly released footage contrasts with Pelosi’s public stance that she bore no responsibility for the security arrangements on January 6, despite the fact that the House Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving, reported directly to her.
In the video, Pelosi is seen urging Irving to resign and acknowledging that fellow lawmakers had repeatedly questioned the preparedness for that day. “How many times did members ask, are we prepared? Are we prepared? We’re not prepared for the worst,” Pelosi stated in the footage.
She further admitted, “We will have totally failed. And we’ve got to take some responsibility.”
The timing of this footage’s release coincides with ongoing investigations by the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee, now led by Chairman Barry Loudermilk after Republicans took control of the House in January 2023.
The video provides a stark contrast to Pelosi’s earlier public statements, adding a new dimension to the narrative of the events leading up to and during the January 6 riot.
Additional context comes from a report by Just the News two years ago, which detailed that President Donald Trump’s outgoing Pentagon leadership had offered National Guard assistance to Congress four days before the January 6 crisis.
This offer was reportedly declined by Deputy Police Chief Sean Gallagher after consultation with Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund. According to a Capitol Police after-action timeline, Gallagher informed the Department of Defense on January 3 that “a request for National Guard support [was] not forthcoming at this time.”
At that point, Capitol Police were reassessing the potential for violence at the January 6 rally. Earlier assessments had predicted that the event would resemble previous “Million MAGA March” rallies, where violence had been minimal.
However, by late December, internal Capitol Police communications indicated that some groups planning to attend were discussing disruptive tactics, such as blocking tunnels leading to the Capitol.
In his testimony before Congress last year, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund confirmed that he had requested National Guard support on January 3 but was denied by top security officials reporting to Pelosi and incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “On January 3, I requested the assistance of the National Guard to support my perimeter and was denied by the two Sergeants at Arms over the concerns for politics and optics,” Sund testified.
Further footage handed over to Congress also shows Pelosi, after order had been restored, plotting her response to what she viewed as then-President Trump’s role in the day’s events.
As she left the Capitol in an SUV, she was heard saying, “I just feel sick about what he did to the Capitol and the country today. He’s got to pay a price for that.”
Earlier, during the initial evacuation, Pelosi made it clear that her resistance to leaving the Capitol was driven by a determination to proceed with the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency, stating, “First of all, I don’t agree with this, taking me out of the chair. But if they stop the proceedings, they will have to succeed in stopping the validation of the president of the United States.”
These revelations continue to shed light on the complex decision-making and the internal struggles faced by key officials during the January 6 Capitol riot, offering new details that contribute to the ongoing investigation and public understanding of that day’s events.
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