The US House speaker is shown vowing to attack the ex-president if he entered Congress during the January 6 riots
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi © Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatened to use physical violence against former President Donald Trump if he appeared at Capitol Hill during the January 6 riots in Washington, DC, according to a previously undisclosed video released by CNN on Thursday.
The video, which was captured by Alexandra Pelosi, the house speaker’s daughter, appears to show a tense exchange between members of her staff that took place in her congressional office.
According to the footage, Pelosi was closely following Trump’s speech in the Ellipse, a park located about two miles off Capitol Hill. During the rally, Trump promised his backers that he would walk down with them to the Capitol to protest against the certification of electoral college votes to formalize the victory of then-President-elect Joe Biden.
In the video, Terri McCullough, Pelosi’s chief of staff, tells her boss that the Secret Service had “dissuaded [Trump] from coming to Capitol Hill,” citing lack of resources to protect him there. “So at the moment, he is not coming, but that could change,” she stressed.
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“I hope he comes, I’m going to punch him out,” Pelosi replied. “I’ve been waiting for this, for trespassing on the Capitol grounds.” The house speaker admitted she could “go to jail” for this attack, a consequence she said she would be “happy” to accept.
Ultimately, however, the former president never appeared at the Capitol.
The video was released on Thursday as the House January 6 committee, which is in charge of investigating the attack, unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump to provide documents and testimony under oath on the matter. Should the former president fail to comply, he may face up to 12 months in jail.
A long-time critic of the investigation into the Capitol attack, Trump told Truth Social, owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, the committee is a “total ‘BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country” and criticized it for waiting so long to issue a subpoena.
