Donald Trump has blamed Nancy Pelosi for the Capitol riots on January 6, repeating his unproven claim that she rejected his request for extra security.
The former president, who is in the midst of a House Committee probe over his role in the 2021 insurrection, said he tried to call in the National Guard prior to the Stop the Steal rally.
Trump was asked by Sean Hannity on Fox News if he authorized the request for 20,000 troops in the lead-up to the protests.
He responded: ‘One hundred percent, and attested to by many people. And they turned it down. Nancy Pelosi turned it down, and she is in charge of the Capitol.
‘They run the Capitol, the security of the Capitol. If you had 10,000 or 20,000 or even 5,000 soldiers wrapped around the Capitol, you would have had no January 6 as we know it.
Donald Trump has blamed Nancy Pelosi for the Capitol riots on January 6, repeating his unproven claim that she rejected his request for extra security
The former president has repeatedly made the unproven claim that Pelosi rejected his security request
‘There would have been no problem whatsoever, but they turned it down, which tells you everything.’
Trump made this claim back in February 2021 but there is no evidence he made the security request or that Pelosi denied it.
The committee revealed this week it is investigating whether or not Trump ordered the National Guard to respond.
The panel wrote: ‘The Committee has identified no evidence that President Trump issued any order, or took any other action, to deploy the guard that day.
‘Nor does it appear that President Trump made any calls at all to the Department of Justice or any other law enforcement agency to request deployment of their personnel to the Capitol.’
The committee revealed this week it is investigating whether or not Trump ordered the National Guard to respond
But Trump continued his accusations, saying if it were not for the Speaker and Mayor of Washington DC Muriel Bowser, ‘you would not have had any problem. It would have just been absolutely a lovely day.’
His comments come as his daughter Ivanka was asked by the January 6 committee to voluntarily come and speak with them about her recollections of the day.
‘You will anticipate the committee inviting some people to come talk to us,’ Rep. Bennie Thompson told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, adding, ‘not lawmakers right now — Ivanka Trump.’
It’s the second blow to Ivanka this week after New York’s attorney general went after the former first daughter for being given the option to buy a luxury NYC apartment from the Trump Organization for a third of the value listed on company financial statements.
Trump claimed there was ‘a lot of love’ in the air at his rally (above) on the Ellipse just prior to the January 6 Capitol riot
Ivanka Trump served as an adviser to her father Donald Trump during his White House tenure. She, husband Jared Kushner and their three children moved to Miami after the Trump’s administration ended.
Elsewhere in his Hannity interview, Trump claimed there was ‘a lot of love’ in the air at his rally on January 6 prior to the riot.
‘Believe me, there was a lot of love and a lot of friendship and people that love our country. These are great people,’ he said.
Following the rally, thousands of Trump’s supporters marched to the nearby Capitol and stormed it, disrupting the certification of Biden’s election.
Trump also slammed President Joe Biden once again, suggesting something is not ‘normal’ with his successor and listing perceived shortfalls exactly one year after Biden took office.
He said of Biden ‘I want him to do well’, but went on to reel off a litany of complaints about the Democrat’s first year.
Daughter Ivanka was asked by the January 6 committee to voluntarily come and speak with them about her recollections of the day
Trump mentioned the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, soaring inflation, and a surge of illegal crossings at the southern border.
He also slammed Biden’s press conference on Wednesday, saying the president gave a ‘green light’ to Russia to invade Ukraine by pondering a limited response to a ‘minor incursion,’ remarks that the White House hastily walked back.
Asked whether Biden seemed to be ‘struggling cognitively’, Trump responded: ‘When you watch the press conference, I don’t want to be the one to say, but that’s not a normal situation going on there.’
It comes a the former president is positioning himself for a potential run to try to recapture the White House.
But he is facing the dual threat of the January 6 probe and an investigation by New York’s attorney general Letitia James over alleged fraud.
She is seeking a court order to force Trump and his two oldest children to testify in their case, stating that she has ‘uncovered significant evidence’ of financial misconduct.
It threatens to ensnare not only Trump and his top executives – some who have served his family for decades – but the adult children he relied on both at his business enterprise and while serving in the White House.
James has since March 2019 been looking into the tax affairs of the Trump Organization, after former Trump confidante Michael Cohen shed light on its business practices.
James is looking at whether the Trump Organization inflated the value of its assets in a bid to claim tax relief.
James said that the former president claimed his Trump Tower penthouse was 30,000 square feet and worth $327 million, when in fact it was 11,000 square feet and worth a fraction of that.
He also allegedly inflated the value of his golf course in Scotland, and wrongly stated that members of his Westchester club were paying $150,000 to join.
The Trumps misrepresented the value to banks, insurance companies and the IRS, James said.
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