Pelosi on Jan. 6 said Trump has to 'pay a price' in new footage
Newly released footage taken the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol shows then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stressing the importance of staying focused on former President Trump’s role in encouraging the riot.
The video, released to HBO by Pelosi’s daughter — who is a documentary filmmaker — and obtained by CNN after it was obtained by Congress, shows Pelosi the day after the rampage, rebuffing her communications director as he noted many were calling for the firing of the then-chief of the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP).
“I think our focus has to be on the president. Let’s not divert ourselves,” Pelosi is heard saying during the call.
She stressed that the calls to remove USCP Chief Steven Sund should not be allowed to distract from a discussion she felt should be squarely focused on Trump.
“I don't want to have it on a par with the insurrection and the impeachment and the rest of that. If they ask, I will respond, but I'm not doing it on a par, because it's a diversion,” she said.
The collection of footage, just short of an hour, follows Pelosi on Jan. 5, 6 and 7 of 2021 and includes her evacuation from the Capitol.
In more footage showing the then-Speaker in the hours after the House reconvened to certify the election results, Pelosi is again seen focused on Trump.
“I just feel sick what he did to the Capitol and to the country today,” she says around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 7. “He’s gotta pay a price for that.”
At another point, she says Trump failed to uphold his constitutional duty to protect the country from enemies foreign and domestic.
“There’s a domestic enemy in the White House. And let's not mince words about this,” she said.
Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Her daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, said of the release of her footage: “Hope you appreciate the cinematography: backwards and in heels! Now if you want context, go watch Pelosi in The House! Streaming now on HBO!”
Pelosi’s comments are not just limited to Trump and include remarks sure to be seized on by Republicans.
She kept asking about the delayed arrival of the National Guard, which took several hours to arrive at the Capitol that day.
“How many times did the members ask, ‘Are we prepared? Are we prepared?’ We’re not prepared for the worst,” Pelosi said. “We’re calling the National Guard, now? It should’ve been here to start out. I just don’t understand it. Why do we empower people this way by not being ready?”
She also fixated on the National Guard's lack of preparedness for the range of possibilities that could play out on Jan. 6.
“I feel responsible,” she told her chief of staff Terri McCullough. “We have a responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there, and we should have. This is ridiculous.”
“I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more. Because it’s stupid,” she added later.
Republicans have frequently sought to blame Pelosi for faults in the security planning that day, though that is not the role of the Speaker. The Capitol Police Board, which includes the sergeant-at-arms of each chamber and other officials, is responsible for overseeing Capitol Police and requesting National Guard assistance.
The GOP this Congress charged Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) with reviewing the 2021 attack, a process that has also included reviewing the work of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 select committee.
"This batch of unaired HBO footage is nothing new," Loudermilk said in a Wednesday statement.
"For over three years, Nancy Pelosi has refused to take responsibility for her failure to secure the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. Instead, she has pushed the focus of the failure on President Trump. As Speaker, she controlled House operations and security on the House side of the Capitol - which she acknowledges in this HBO footage."
This story was updated at 10:23 a.m. ET