Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) posted on X Monday criticizing President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., drawing a swift rebuttal from Steven Sund, who served as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police during the January 6, 2021, protests.
Pelosi’s post came after President Trump activated the D.C. National Guard in response to violent crime in the capital.
In her statement, she linked the move to her criticism of Trump’s handling of the January 6 events.
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“Donald Trump delayed deploying the National Guard on January 6th when our Capitol was under violent attack and lives were at stake,” Pelosi wrote.
“Now, he’s activating the DC Guard to distract from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration — just to name a few blunders.”
Sund responded directly to Pelosi’s post, disputing her characterization of events and asserting that his requests for Guard support had been denied in the days leading up to and during January 6.
“Ma’am, it is long past time to be honest with the American people,” Sund wrote.
“On January 3, I requested National Guard assistance, but your Sergeant at Arms denied it.”
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Sund detailed that he had made further requests for assistance on January 6 itself, which were also denied.
He added that when lawmakers later decided to secure the Capitol, they ordered fencing with concertina wire and deployed thousands of armed National Guard troops.
“When I needed assistance, it was denied,” Sund wrote.
“Yet when it suited you, you ordered fencing topped with concertina wire and surrounded the Capitol with thousands of armed National Guard troops.”
Ma’am, it is long past time to be honest with the American people. On January 3, I requested National Guard assistance, but your Sergeant at Arms denied it. Under federal law (2 U.S.C. §1970), I was prohibited from calling them in without specific approval. That same day, Carol…
— Chief Steven Sund (@ChiefSund) August 11, 2025
Video footage taken during the events of January 6, later included in a documentary by Pelosi’s daughter, shows the former Speaker acknowledging a delay in calling in the Guard.
“I totally failed,” Pelosi said in the recording.
“I take responsibility.”
🚨 Since January 6, 2021, Nancy Pelosi spent 3+ years and nearly $20 million creating a narrative to blame Donald Trump.
NEW FOOTAGE shows on January 6, Pelosi ADMITTED:
“I take responsibility.”
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/95a0totTWB
— Oversight Subcommittee (@OversightAdmn) June 10, 2024
According to Sund’s 2023 book Courage Under Fire, he had requested the National Guard be placed on standby days before the protest, but the House Sergeant at Arms, who reported to Pelosi, and the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who reported to then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), did not approve the requests.
NPR reported on January 11, 2021, that Sund had requested assistance six times both before and during the unrest.
Sund has said he made 11 urgent calls on January 6 requesting support, but the House Sergeant at Arms rejected the request for 71 minutes.
FACT: I made 11 urgent calls requesting National Guard support on Jan 6, starting at 12:58 PM. Approval was withheld for 71 minutes by the House Sergeant at Arms, who reported directly to Speaker Pelosi. She caused critical delays, and now is shifting blame to @realDonaldTrump… https://t.co/Hg7nn0iAuH
— Chief Steven Sund (@ChiefSund) June 10, 2025
Kash Patel, who served as chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense during Trump’s first administration, stated in May 2023 that both Pelosi and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) had declined Trump’s preemptive authorization to have the Guard on standby.
“This deliberate slow-rolling portrays a clear intent to gut the president’s preemptive authorization of the National Guard days prior, which had then been declined by Speaker Pelosi and Mayor Bowser,” Patel told RedState.
The renewed exchange over January 6 comes as President Trump uses federal authority to deploy the National Guard to address violent crime in the capital.
Pelosi’s comments and Sund’s rebuttal have reignited debate over who bore responsibility for delays in Guard deployment on January 6 and the chain of command decisions made before and during the events.
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