Jim Jordan Receives ‘Four Pinocchios’ for Claiming Pelosi Denied a Request for National Guard Troops

The Washington Post is slapping Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) with “four Pinocchios” for falsely claiming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) denied a request for National Guard troops ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“Capitol Police requested National Guard help prior to January 6th. That request was denied by Speaker Pelosi and her Sergeant at Arms,” Jordan wrote on Twitter on Feb. 15.

The Post noted in an analysis that Jordan refers to Paul D. Irving as “her Sergeant at Arms” but argues he was appointed in 2012 by then-House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

The publication then referenced a letter, Steven A. Sund, the U.S. Capitol Police chief, wrote to Pelosi on Feb. 1.

Sund said he spoke to Irving about the request first, who “stated that he was concerned about the ‘optics’ and didn’t feel that the intelligence supported it.”

He was reportedly told to go to Michael C. Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, for his thoughts on the request.

“Instead of approving the use of the National Guard, however, Mr. Stenger suggested I ask them how quickly we could get support if needed and to ‘lean forward’ in case we had to request assistance on January 6,” Sund wrote.

Sund added when he contacted Gen. William Walker, commanding officer of the D.C. National Guard, he “advised that he could repurpose 125 National Guard and have them to me fairly quickly, once approved. I asked General Walker to be prepared in the event that we requested them.”