Fact check: Did Pelosi control Capitol police during January 6 attack?
Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Ill) said "Former Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund has testified that Irving was concerned as many have said about the 'optics,' and we know that the speaker's office was calling the shots on all of their actions on Jan. 6." PolitiFact checks his claim.
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As the Democrat-led investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol devolves even further into an exercise of political finger pointing, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois has joined a chorus of Republicans trying to shift blame for security failures to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"The chief of police cannot make a final security decision without going to political appointees that make up the Capitol Police Board — his or her bosses," Davis said. Specifically, he pointed to the fact that then-House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving requested Pelosi’s permission to seek support from the National Guard that afternoon:
"If Sergeant-at-Arms Irving felt he needed the speaker’s approval then, what were the instructions and conversations he had with the speaker’s office prior to Jan. 6?" Davis said. "Former Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund has testified that Irving was concerned as many have said about the ‘optics,’ and we know that the speaker’s office was calling the shots on all of their actions on Jan. 6."
Pelosi no more responsible for Capitol security decisions than McConnell
The House sergeant-at-arms reports to the House speaker just as the Senate sergeant-at-arms reports to the Senate majority leader, but there is no indication Pelosi controls day-to-day security operations. So we reached out to Davis’ office to ask what he was talking about.
However, those facts do not prove Pelosi made all the calls on how Sund, Irving, and the other members of the Capitol Police Board responded to the crisis — most notably because then-Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger, who reported to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the time, also played an active role.
As Sund noted in his letter to Pelosi, the police chief "notified the two Sergeant at Arms" around 1 p.m. on Jan. 6 that he "urgently needed support." Despite confusion over the statutory process for requesting National Guard assistance, both Irving and Stenger eventually approved Sund’s request to call for backup at 2:10 p.m., according to the Senate report.
"The speaker expects security professionals to make security decisions and to be informed of those decisions," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told the Times.
PolitiFact ruling
Davis said "we know that the speaker’s office was calling the shots on all of" the actions taken by the officials in charge of Capitol security on Jan. 6.
As evidence, his office highlighted the fact that then-House Sergeant-at-Arms Irving requested approval from Pelosi before greenlighting the Capitol police chief’s request to call in the National Guard.
But Davis and his spokesman ignored a critical detail: the decision to approve that request and call for backup was not Irving’s call alone. It was made in conjunction with the Senate sergeant-at-arms, who reports to the Senate majority leader. At the time, that was McConnell.
We rate Davis’ claim Mostly False.
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