Chilling footage at a Thursday House hearing offered a never-before-seen look at lawmakers huddlingas the U.S. Capitol was under siegeon Jan. 6, 2021.
SpeakerNancy Pelosican be seen in various clips, sitting in an undisclosed secure location as supporters of Donald Trump stormed the building and asking a staffer if lawmakers were still technically in session.
“There has to be some way to maintain the sense that people have, that there is some security or some confidence that government can function and that you can elect the president of the United States,” Pelosi said in the footage. “Did we go back into session?”
A staffer off-camera then said, “We did go back into session but now apparently everyone is putting on tear gas masks to prepare for a breach.”
“They’re putting on their…?” Pelosi then asked quizzically.
“Their tear gas masks,” the staffer responded.
“Do you believe this? Do you believe this?” Pelosi quietly said in astonishment.
In the footage, Pelosi could be seen huddling with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumeras the three tried to get through to other state and federal representatives to determine how to proceed with the election certification that had been delayed.
“Oh my gosh … it’s just horrendous and all at the instigation of [Trump],” Pelosi said on the phone in the footage.
Elsewhere in the footage, Pelosi could be heard saying that she had gotten reports about damage done to the building, including “defecation” on the House floor.
“It could take time to clean up the poo poo … literally and figuratively [that] they are making in the Capitol,” Pelosi said in the footage.
Nancy Pelosi.Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Pelosi could also be seen frantically calling Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, to see if he could send additional officers to help restore order.
Elsewhere in the hearing, members presented logs from Secret Service chats, showing that agents were worried about the threats that could be facing Mike Pence after Trump began directing his ire at the vice president.
Trump has maintained that Pence could have and should have acted to stop the certification of the electoral vote count during the joint session of Congress being held that day.
After the tweet went live, agents began chatting about the dangers that could come next.
“POTUS just tweeted about Pence, probably not going to be good about Pence,” wrote one agent.
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Footage taken during the breach of the Capitol shows some Trump supporters chanting “Hang Mike Pence” — a chant that the committee previously heard the former presidentapproved of.
source: people.com
