Pelosi was in charge of Capitol security during breach. ‘We will get to bottom of that,’ says Lindsey Graham

With the politically-motivated media focusing ad nauseam on the events that took place at the U.S. Capitol, there has been little focus on the role Congress has when it comes to providing security.

To the chagrin of the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., changed that on Sunday when he pointed to the speaker and asked where was she when it came to ensuring the protection of the legislative seat of the U.S. government?

The Sergeant at Arms of the House, under the direction of the speaker, is responsible for security, along with the U.S. Capitol Police. After the storming of the building, the chief of the Capitol Police resigned under pressure, according to The New York Times, and the sergeants-at-arms of the Senate and House resigned from their posts.

But Graham took the responsibility one step further while discussing impeachment on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, naming Pelosi and suggesting he will begin an investigation into this — Graham is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

“I understand what happened on January the 6th was one of the low points in my time in office,” the senator said. “It was horrendous to see these people take over the Capitol, the House, and the Senate, beat officers, defile the seat of government, how in the hell could that happen? Where was Nancy Pelosi, it was her job to provide Capitol security? We will get to the bottom of that.”

The remarks did not sit well with Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill, who took to Twitter to blast Graham — while ignoring what responsibility his boss may have had in the breaching of the Capitol.

Falling back on the alleged “fair election,” he hit Graham for voicing skepticism over the outcome of the November election.

“This disgraceful attempt to shift blame for the mob attack on the Capitol is absurd & pathetic. He need only look in the mirror if he wants to start pointing a finger. He has repeatedly cast doubts on results of a fair election & dangerously fanned flames of rightwing quackery,” Hammill tweeted.

Graham told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo Sunday that Joe Biden “is off to a lousy start,” voicing concerns that Biden will not stand up to the left when in office.

“It would be so easy for him in the name of healing this country to — to tell [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer to stand down impeachment. No good comes from impeaching President Trump out of office but he can’t do that,” Graham said. “So I’m really worried that he’s going to stand up to the radical left on anything.”

When asked about the 10 House Republicans voting to impeach President Trump, he reminded them that “impeachment is a political tool.”

“What you have done is impeach the president without one witness being called and not even having a lawyer,” Graham said. “That’s dangerous to the presidency. I think it was a bad, rushed emotional move that puts the presidency at risk or… calls for further division in the country.”

To my Senate Republicans, don’t legitimize an unconstitutional effort to impeach President Trump,” he continued. “It becomes the model for the future. Will we pursue presidents in perpetuity when they do something we don’t like and we hound them when they are out of office? The Constitution was never meant to do that. That’s a scarlet letter impeachment.”

As for security, the Washington Post reported outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who said he asked House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to allow the DC National Guard to be placed on standby before the planned rally on Jan. 6 but was turned down by both men.

Fox News also reported that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the House Administration Committee chair plans to “look into” the security breach — Lofgren is sure to hold Pelosi’s feet to the fire if warranted. Right?

“The breach today at the U.S. Capitol raises grave security concerns,” Lofgren said in a statement after the riot. “I intend to have the Committee on House Administration work with the bipartisan House and Senate leadership to address these concerns and review the response in coming days.”

One thing seems certain, authorities should have known ahead of time that there may be a threat.

Here’s a sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:

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