What communications did Nancy Pelosi have with D.C. officials about National Guard requests before Jan. 6, 2021?
Executive summary
The documented record shows limited, situational communications between then‑Speaker Nancy Pelosi (or her office) and Capitol security or District of Columbia officials about National Guard support in the days immediately before Jan. 6 and during the attack — but those communications do not establish that Pelosi had unilateral authority to call up or block the D.C. National Guard, and multiple official reports place operational control with the Pentagon and the Capitol Police Board [1] [2] [3].
1. What the contemporaneous records show about pre‑Jan. 6 requests
Capitol Police made formal requests for additional protection in the lead‑up to Jan. 6, including a request on Jan. 4 that was not approved, and those requests were handled through the Capitol Police Board and contacts with the Pentagon rather than by the Speaker making a deployment decision herself [4] [5]; contemporaneous Department of Defense and congressional inquiries indicate the Pentagon sought clarification from Capitol Police about whether more forces were needed, and no presidential order to activate the D.C. Guard was issued in advance [5].
2. What Pelosi’s office received and relayed on Jan. 6
On Jan. 6, as the attack unfolded, the House sergeant at arms notified Pelosi’s office that a request to contact the Pentagon for Guard support might be made; testimony and reporting show the sergeant at arms first asked Pelosi’s chief of staff for permission to contact the Pentagon at about 1:40 p.m. [1] [6]. Video and contemporaneous accounts also capture Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer discussing and urging prompt National Guard deployment as the siege continued, and Pelosi “signaled her support” for deploying the Guard when the recommendation was presented that afternoon [3] [2].
3. Who actually authorizes and deploys the D.C. National Guard
The legal and operational reality is that the D.C. National Guard is activated by the president, the defense secretary or the Army secretary, and day‑to‑day decisions for security response on Capitol grounds were vested in the Capitol Police Board and DOD channels; multiple fact‑checks and official reports emphasize that the delay in Guard arrival was a function of Pentagon deliberations and unfamiliarity among some Capitol Board members with the statutory process, not a Speaker’s refusal to authorize troops [2] [5] [7].
4. A disputed phrase: “I take responsibility” and how it has been used
Footage of Pelosi saying “I take responsibility” while evacuating has been seized upon by critics as an admission she withheld the Guard, but context matters: Pelosi used that phrase to acknowledge congressional oversight responsibility for preparedness and to ask why the Guard “weren’t there to begin with,” not to claim she had operational authority to deploy or deny forces; independent fact‑checks and congressional reports point out that Republicans have amplified that clip to shift blame to Pelosi despite the chain of command resting with the Pentagon and the Capitol Police Board [8] [7] [6].
5. Political uses of the communications record and competing narratives
House Republicans pressed Pelosi for documents and answers — framing questions about whether her staff counseled the sergeant at arms or delayed approval for Guard contact — as part of an effort to reassign responsibility for Jan. 6 security failures [4] [8]. Fact‑checking organizations and the Department of Defense timeline counter those attacks by underscoring that the Pentagon and Capitol Police Board, not Pelosi, controlled Guard activation and that requests were routed through formal military channels where the delays occurred [5] [2].
6. Bottom line and limits of the record
The record reliably shows Pelosi’s office was informed and involved in situational communications — she and her team were notified about possible Guard requests, were asked permission for procedural contacts with the Pentagon, and publicly and privately urged military assistance as the attack unfolded — but the statutory authority to call up and deploy the D.C. Guard lay with federal defense officials, and official reviews attribute the delay to Pentagon processes and Capitol Board decision‑making rather than to a unilateral decision by Pelosi to block troops [1] [3] [5]. Where reporting is silent or ambiguous about specific internal back‑and‑forths among staff, this analysis does not speculate beyond the documented record [9].