Former President Donald Trump was acquitted last week in a second Senate impeachment trial, this one alleging that he incited an insurrection ahead of the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building.
The effort failed due to a lack of support among Senate Republicans, some of whom are now asking whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) bears any responsibility for the day’s events.
“Enormous institutional responsibilities”
According to Fox News, a group of GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Pelosi’s office seeking information regarding the security decisions she made prior to Trump’s rally last month.
“As you are aware, the Speaker of the House is not only the leader of the majority party, but also has enormous institutional responsibilities,” the letter read.
The congressional Republicans went on to assert that the House speaker “is responsible for all operational decisions made within the House.”
Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund claimed that he sought approval from former Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving for bringing in National Guard troops for support but blamed “optics” for the disapproval of his request.
Citing that report, the GOP letter asked: “When then-Chief Sund made a request for national guard support on January 4th, why was that request denied?”
“Not the priorities of these ranking members”
Specifically, the signers wanted to know if Irving received “permission or instruction” from Pelosi’s staff to deny the approval.
For her part, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff issued a statement on her behalf that lashed out at the Republicans for “voting to undermine our democracy” by opposing the outcome of November’s presidential race.
“Two of the four House Republican ranking members voted to overturn the results of a fair election, just hours after the Capitol was sacked by an insurrectionist, right-wing mob – a mob incited by Trump,” Drew Hammill complained.
The Pelosi aide went on to allege that “the security of our Capitol and democracy are not the priorities of these ranking members.”
As for the speaker’s dedication to the safety of lawmakers, Hammill insisted that Pelosi “has and will continue to take action to ensure accountability and enhance the security of the Capitol.”
The post GOP lawmakers question Pelosi’s security decisions ahead of Capitol riot first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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