Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told Newsmax on Tuesday that it's possible that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wanted the outcome of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot through the delays and denials of National Guard assistance.
"When you look at the delays, it doesn't take long for someone to start thinking some conspiracy theories," Sund said. "It's a possibility."
Sund made the comments on "Finnerty," one day after criticizing Pelosi for what he called her dishonesty over who blocked the deployment of the National Guard to quell the Jan. 6 riot.
As he did on social media Monday, Sund on Tuesday took umbrage with her missive that President Donald Trump "delayed deploying" the National Guard on Jan. 6.
"No, that is not true. That is far from the truth. … Why she keeps saying that I don't know," Sund told host Rob Finnerty, saying later, "It wasn't from the White House."
Sund said his first request for the National Guard came on Jan. 3, 2021, and his request was denied — twice.
"By law, I'm the only chief of police in the United States of America that had a law that requires me to go to the Capitol Police Board, which is made up of her [House] Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving ... and the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the architect of the Capitol, to request National Guard approval to bring them onto Capitol grounds," Sund said. "I did that twice on Jan. 3. I was denied twice on Jan. 3, primarily over the concern for the look of the National Guard on Capitol Hill."
On Jan. 6, Sund said he made his first call to request the National Guard five minutes after the riot got "out of control."
"12:58 [p.m.] I make my first call — because I'm still required by law to get approval — to the House Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving. He says he's going to run it up the chain," Sund said. "Eleven calls later, 71 minutes later, I finally get approval at 2:09 p.m. So you want to talk about delays of National Guard on Jan. 6, it wasn't from the White House. It was actually internal to the Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Board."
Sund said it was one thing to be denied on Jan. 3, when his request was to help bolster the perimeter of the Capitol. But to be denied while under attack? He called that "interesting."
"It was a big perimeter, and a fence with nobody standing behind it is no good," he said of his Jan. 3 requests. "But to be denied repeatedly while we're under attack? And the irony is the Capitol Police Board has three liaisons that sit right behind me in the command center.
"They were seeing everything that was happening up on the screens of the command center, as my officers were having to battle to try and maintain the perimeter. Yet my repeated calls were being denied while they ran it up the chain."
Sund, Irving, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger resigned in the aftermath of the riot. Stenger died in June 2022.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.