Republicans Keep Trying to Blame Nancy Pelosi for Jan. 6

Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, and Fox News' Sean Hannity attempted to blame the violence which occurred on January 6 on Nancy Pelosi—in what are the latest incidents of false claims regarding the House Speaker by Republicans in the wake of the attack.

On Wednesday, Lara Trump, a TV producer who is married to Donald Trump's son, Eric, defended her father-in-law during an appearance on Hannity's show on Wednesday, while questioning why there wasn't "adequate security" on January 6 to protect the Capitol from the mob.

Lara Trump also dismissed suggestions that the former president incited his supporters to attack the Capitol after spending weeks spreading false claims regarding the 2020 Election results.

"They all know that Donald Trump didn't orchestrate this whole thing," Lara Trump said. "He didn't tell people to go to the Capitol and break in, he said, 'Let's peacefully and patriotically make our voices heard.'

"But he tried to warn them. So many people tried to warn Nancy Pelosi, so why didn't they have adequate security there?"

Her appearance on Hannity's show arrived as the host, along with other Fox News personalities, were revealed by the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6 to have texted Donald Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows during the attack, in an attempt to persuade the then president to call for an end to the violence.

Republican rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House select committee, said that the texts from Hannity, as well Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade, showed that the White House and the Fox News hosts was well aware of the seriousness of the attack even as it was occurring.

After getting roped into the investigation, Hannity dismissed the House Select probe as a "weak attempt to smear" him and Donald Trump.

On Wednesday night, Hannity also reverted back to an old tactic from Republicans of suggesting that it is Pelosi and not the former president who needs to be investigated over the riot.

"Your father in law said days before January 6, knowing what happened in the summer of 2020 [with Black Lives Matter protests] that the National Guard should be on the ready. Mark Meadows said the same thing," Hannity said to Lara Trump.

"The Capitol Police Chief requested over six times, everybody was denied. Now the person in charge of the Capitol Police that would make that decision is none other than Nancy Pelosi.

"Now, I doubt this Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger 'I hate Trump committee' has any intention whatsoever of getting to the bottom of why Nancy Pelosi didn't bring in the National Guard as everybody requested," Hannity added.

Hannity's attempt to suggest Pelosi is somehow more to blame than Donald Trump for his supporters storming the Capitol has been frequently pushed by other Republicans in the months preceding the attack, despite their cries frequently coming under scrutiny.

Among some of the false claims that have been suggested by conservative figures is that Pelosi was in charge of Capitol Police on January 6; that she is responsible for the security of Congress; and that she turned down Donald Trump's request to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops that day.

However, each claim is either demonstrably false, or at best wild speculation.

In February, Ohio rep. Jim Jordan tweeted that Pelosi and her Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving had denied a request from Capitol Police for more National Guard troops two days before the insurrection on January 6.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also made a similar claim that Pelosi "denied the ability to bring the National Guard" to the Capitol on January 6.

During the same conference in Washington D.C., House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said Pelosi was allegedly "made aware of potential security threats to the Capitol and she failed to act."

The Washington Post's Fact Checking team has twice described the claim that Pelosi refused to deploy troops that day as "whoppers" and gave gave the remarks the maximum four Pinocchios in its rating scale.

Also in July, Jordan attempted to claim Pelosi was essentially in charge of Capitol Police and responsible for the security presence at the Capitol on January 6.

As noted by a CNN fact check, the Speaker of the House is not in charge of Capitol security, and therefore was not Pelosi's responsibility on January 6.

Capitol security is actually the responsibility of the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the Capitol Police and also approves requests for National Guard assistance.

Jane L. Campbell, president and CEO of the Capitol Historical Society, told CNN: "The Speaker of the House does not oversee security of the U.S. Capitol, nor does this official oversee the Capitol Police Board."

Another claim which has been repeatedly pushed by Donald Trump without evidence is that Pelosi rejected his request to deploy 10,000 troops for the protest which preceded the Capitol attack.

The claim from Trump can be dated as far back as March up until mid-December.

"I suggested 10,000 National Guardsmen to be there, or even the military, because I knew the crowd was going to be massive, because I knew that the anger that took place over the election being rigged," Trump told Nigel Farage during an interview on British television.

"I understood it better than anybody and Pelosi and these people turned it down. We would have had tremendous security, but they turned that down."

While the 10,000 figure has often been cited by Trump as what he thought the amount of troops in D.C. that day should have been, there is no evidence to suggest that Pelosi actively rejected a request to deploy this amount, nor would she have the power to do so.

"The Speaker's Office has made it clear publicly and repeatedly that our office was not consulted or contacted concerning any request for the National Guard ahead of Jan. 6," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told PolitiFact in February.

The fact checking website also ruled the claim as false.

Pelosi's office has been contacted for comment.