WASHINGTON — Hours after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and attacked dozens of police officers as they tried to reach lawmakers, then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the then-president a “domestic enemy.”
The remarks were captured on video shot by Pelosi’s daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, and recently released to Congress by HBO. NBC News on Tuesday reviewed more than 30 minutes of video from roughly 48 hours surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including footage of Pelosi urging staff to call in the National Guard and being escorted out of the building by security guards.
Her newly surfaced comments go further than what she said publicly on January 7, when she said Trump “incited an armed insurrection against America” and “incited” an attack that will “forever be a stain on the history of our nation.”
According to the HBO video, Pelosi was speaking with staff while sitting beneath an ornate mirror that had been smashed when a pro-Trump mob ransacked her office hours earlier.
“We are committed to defending our country against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” she said. “We have a domestic enemy in the White House. I will not hesitate to speak out about that.”
The previously unaired video also shows Pelosi taking responsibility for not pressing law enforcement harder about preparations before the attack.
“Why wasn’t the National Guard there in the first place?” Pelosi asked. “They obviously didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not making them more prepared,” she said as she was led away by security guards on January 6. “It’s foolish to get into this situation.”
“Did they think these people would behave in a civilized way? Did they think these people would care? What is missing here in terms of expectations?” she added.
The comments also signaled Ms. Pelosi’s skepticism about the motives of law enforcement agencies, which typically lean conservative. (FBI officials, for example, were warned hours after the attack that many within the bureau were “sympathetic” to the Capitol rioters.)
“Shame on you,” Pelosi said as security forces escorted her to nearby Fort McNair, which on the evening of Jan. 6 had been transformed into a command center for the presidential succession and where several congressional leaders had gathered. “Shame on you. I have doubts about them and their motives, to tell you the truth.”
The House committee that met on January 6 ultimately avoided focusing on law enforcement failures leading up to the attack, instead focusing on Trump’s role, as Speaker Pelosi did immediately after the attack.
The new video also shows Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) joking about Trump pardoning the rioters, a position the re-elected Republican presidential nominee has supported, calling the January 6th defendants “hostages” and “incredible patriots.”
When Pelosi’s daughter asked her how she felt about “ending her relationship with Trump” after Congress certified his election defeat in the early hours of January 7, a weary Pelosi replied in the new video that her actions must have consequences.
“I’m just disgusted by what he did to our Capitol and our country today,” Pelosi said. “He must pay the price.”
