The former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police has made a surprising revelation that aligns with claims made by former President Donald Trump regarding assistance prior to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
During his testimony before a House committee, Steven Sund revealed that three days before the Capitol riot, U.S. House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving denied Sund’s request to deploy hundreds of National Guard soldiers. Irving reportedly cited then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s opposition to the request as the reason for rejection, according to The Epoch Times.
Sund’s statements were made during a 90-minute hearing before the House Oversight Committee, marking his first appearance before a House panel since his resignation two days after the riot. Notably, he was never called to testify before Pelosi’s Jan. 6 Committee, which was hand-picked by her.
Sund expressed frustration over the denial of troops, believing that their presence on that day could have had a significant impact.
The outlet added:
Mr. Sund said in meetings with Mr. Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger on Jan. 3, he had asked them to approve his request for National Guard soldiers to help secure the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mr. Irving and Mr. Stenger made up two-thirds of the Capitol Police Board, which oversees U.S. Capitol Police and had to approve any such requests.
He met first with Mr. Irving.
“I went into his office, again 9:24 in the morning … and immediately went up and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to bring in the National Guard to support me on, to assist me on the perimeter because when we have a joint session of Congress, it takes a lot of our personnel inside,’” Sund said during his testimony, the outlet added.
“But immediately, as soon as I asked him, his first response was: ‘I don’t know. I don’t like the optics of that,’” Sund testified. “And his second response was, ‘Besides, the intelligence doesn’t support it.’”
Irving instructed Sund to go speak with Stenger, which he did around two hours later, he explained to lawmakers.
“‘You know, let’s come up with another idea,’” Sund said, quoting Stenger, who also suggested that the police chief reach out to the Pentagon to see how quickly Guard personnel could respond if needed.
“So I called [Army Gen.] William Walker, 6:14 p.m. that night,” Sund testified. “He told me they have 125 people assisting with COVID response. He could reallocate those fairly quickly once he got secretary of defense approval and send them over.”
During the proceedings, subcommittee Chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) inquired whether Sund believed that Irving had alerted Stenger before Sund reached Stenger’s Senate office. Sund disclosed that he had posed this very question to Stenger during a lunch meeting in April 2021.
“I said, ‘Mr. Stenger, you came up with that response fairly quickly for me to call General Walker,’” Mr. Sund testified. “And he told me Paul Irving had called him ahead of time and said: ‘Sund came here looking for the National, asking for the National Guard. We got to come up with another plan. Pelosi will never go for it.’”
“I was floored by him saying that,” Sund testified.
This week, there was an uproar among Democrats and liberals as Pelosi was removed from her luxurious congressional office, supposedly to accommodate former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who assumed the role temporarily after McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats earlier this week, issued the eviction notice to Pelosi the next day, drawing ire from members of her party.
Pelosi herself was one of the first to condemn this action.
“With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,” she said on Wednesday.
She added, “Sadly, because I am in California to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein, I am unable to retrieve my belongings at this time.”
