No Evidence Pelosi Blocked National Guard Before Capitol Riot
The Claim
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blocked President Donald Trump’s request for 10,000 National Guard members to be deployed before the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
News posted on
Emerging story
On February 28, Trump told Fox News host Steve Hilton that he requested 10,000 National Guardsmen before the riot, and that Pelosi blocked the request. He said: "I requested… I definitely gave the number of 10,000 National Guardsmen, and I think you should have 10,000 of the National Guard ready. They took that number. From what I understand, they gave it to the people at the Capitol, which is controlled by Pelosi. And I heard they rejected it because they didn’t think it would look good. So, you know, that was a big mistake."
Representatives Rodney Davis, Jim Jordan, James Comer, and Devin Nunes also sent a letter to Pelosi on March 1 claiming she was involved in delaying the employment of troops.
The claim soon took off on news sites and social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that Trump did not officially ask the Department of Defense for the troops, and thus it is very unlikely that Pelosi blocked the request. During an unrelated meeting about Iran on January 5, Trump allegedly said to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller on 5 that he's "going to need 10,000 people" for the impending protest.
Trump making a comment during an unrelated meeting is not the same as the president officially ordering troops. The Department of Defense memo about the events leading up to and taking place on January 6 mentions potentially having 340 National Guard troops.
The letter sent by Davis, Jordan, Comer and Nunes says that Pelosi is at fault for rejecting a request for National Guard assistance allegedly made by former Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund on January 4. According to Sund, former Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving denied the request. The lawmakers’ letter puts the blame on Pelosi, saying that the "Speaker is responsible for all operational decisions made within the House."
However, according to Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill, Irving said that he never presented any request for the National Guard to House leaders. Sund believes that Irving consulted with Senator Michael Stenger, but did not say anything about him meeting with Pelosi. Sund claimed he spoke to Pelosi three times during the riot, but not before it.
In an interview with NPR, Sund also said that – although he did ask for additional aid from the National Guard – he "expected some additional violence… but nothing like what [he] saw." Both Sund and Irving were asked to resign from their positions following the riot.
Since the request for more troops was not on an official memo, but merely mentioned in a meeting, Trump’s assertion that the 10,000 number was shared with Pelosi and other Capitol leaders appears to be incorrect. The allegations made by Davis, Jordan, Comer and Nunes about Pelosi’s part in denying security also appear to be incorrect, since Irving said he did not present Sund’s request to the House. Further, Pelosi has requested a 9/11-style security investigation into the Capitol riot and security flaws. It seems unlikely that she would ask for such a detailed investigation if she were part of the reason there were not enough security forces. Because of these reasons and with the evidence currently available, we rate the claim that Pelosi rejected additional security before the Capitol riot as false.
