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Well, well, well.
Talk about a coverup.
Recall this story, as headlined in BizPacReview?
Pelosi appoints Swalwell to Homeland Security Committee again, despite recent Chinese spy scandal
The story begins thusly, with bold print supplied for emphasis:
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reappointed her California Democratic colleague, Rep. Eric Swalwell, to the Homeland Security Committee despite revelations that he may have been compromised by a Chinese spy with whom he may have allegedly had sexual relations.”
Forget Swalwell. He’s not the subject here. The subject is the process. Just how did the Congressman get “reappointed” to the Homeland Security Committee, not to mention get appointed in the first place? Answer: Because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed him in the first place, then reappointed him again.
This happens for one crystal clear and obvious reason. Which is: The Speaker of the House has the power to appoint Members of the House of her own party to a House committee.
Now. Take a look here at this USA Today “fact check.” The headline:
The claim: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to take responsibility for causing the insurrection at the Capitol building
The story begins this way, with bold print for emphasis again supplied:
“A Feb. 23 claim posted to Facebook is one of a multitude of social media posts blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The post is a meme with the words, “I caused the insurrection at the Capital and refuse to take responsibility for it. #impeachPelosi” overlayed on top of a picture of Pelosi.”
The article goes on to say, correctly, that:
“Panels that oversee USCP are the House and Senate committees on Appropriations, the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch; the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
….Pelosi is not listed on the website as a chair or administrator of any committee supervising the Capitol Police.”
The story finally concludes by saying this:
“Our ruling: False
“We rate the claim that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi caused the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as FALSE, based on our research. The Capitol Police force is responsible for protecting the building and is overseen by a Capitol Police Board, and committees from the House of Representatives and Senate, according to a USCP spokesperson. Pelosi is not directly responsible for overseeing Capitol Police force operations.”
Stop. Full stop.
Of course the idea that Pelosi caused the insurrection is crazy. But notice the sly dodge on the other claim? This one: “Pelosi is not directly responsible for overseeing Capitol Police force operations.”
In fact, as the episode involving Swalwell illustrates, as Speaker of the House it is in fact Pelosi’s direct responsibility to appoint the members from her party to committees, in this case the Committee on House Administration.
To say, as USA Today does, that “Pelosi is not directly responsible for overseeing Capitol Police force operations” is to dodge the facts. Recall this headline from Fox News:
Capitol Police intelligence report before Jan. 6 riot warned ‘Congress itself’ could be targeted: report
The story begins:
“An internal Capitol Police intelligence report issued three days before the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 said ‘Congress itself’ could be targeted by protesters gathering in Washington, D.C., that day, according to a report.
The 12-page intelligence memo, parts of which were obtained by The Washington Post, said the potential targets of the rioters were “not necessarily the counter-protesters as they were previously, but rather Congress itself.”
Thus the obvious two questions about Pelosi that USA Today strangely ignores.
The first question: Did the Committee Members Pelosi directly appointed to the House Administration Committee know about the impending attack on the Capitol from that intelligence report — and failed to tell her?
Or, the second question: If the Members Pelosi directly appointed to the Committee knew nothing about an impending attack — failing to read their own intelligence report — then they are guilty of a stunning incompetence and should be removed by Pelosi forthwith. And Pelosi should be held responsible for appointing them in the first place.
But USA Today is not the only liberal media outlet shielding the Speaker from questions of her responsibility. Here is this headline from The New York Times:
‘Nobody Is in Charge’: Capitol’s Secretive Police Board Faces Overhaul After Riot
Top lawmakers say the Capitol Police Board, which is beholden to House and Senate leaders, needs significant changes after the security failures of Jan. 6.
This gem of a story never once — not once! — mentions Nancy Pelosi by name. It begins:
WASHINGTON — The congressional inquiry into the security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol assault has barely begun, but one outcome already seems certain: The Capitol Police Board, the secretive three-member panel that oversees protection of the complex where Congress meets, is headed for major changes, if not outright elimination.
Lawmakers of both parties in the House and the Senate, some previously unfamiliar with the sweeping authority of the board, have expressed astonishment at its lack of accountability and its inability to rapidly respond to the riot at the Capitol.”
The article also says:
“Like many things on Capitol Hill, the board is a remnant of the past that has survived in large part because it suits those who hold power in Congress. A long line of House and Senate leaders in both parties have favored its existence because they handpick two of its three voting members, giving them tremendous influence over security operations with little public scrutiny.”
Got that? The Capitol Police Board is accountable to “House and Senate leaders” but strangely Speaker Pelosi is not even mentioned as the ultimate House “leader.” Yet most assuredly, though not mentioned at all, Pelosi – as the Speaker – has the power to “handpick” two of the three voting members of the Capitol Police Board. Why? Because she is the Speaker.
The Times story also says:
“At House and Senate hearings in recent days, lawmakers have been struck by the fact that two days before the attack, members of the board dismissed the Capitol Police request for troops to be on hand on Jan. 6. They acted with no vote, little discussion or consultation with other authorities, and no involvement by the architect of the Capitol. Then on the day of the riot, board members struggled to connect and agree to declare an emergency so that troops who were standing by to assist could be summoned to the Capitol.”
There is no suggestion in The Times story that Pelosi should have been informed by her own appointees to both the police board and the House Administration Committee- but wasn’t. And there is no suggestion that she was informed of the possibility but ignored the warning.
This means one of two things that The Times simply avoids by not mentioning Pelosi at all. Either the Members of Congress Pelosi appointed to the Committee were incompetent in not advising the Speaker of an impending attack – or they were ignorant of their own intelligence report, either of which means they should be removed from the House Administration Committee on the spot – by Pelosi. With Pelosi herself being held ultimately responsible for the actions of her appointees
Bottom line? As the investigation into the scandal that was the attack on the Capitol unfolds, USA Today and The New York Times are making it their business to cover for Nancy Pelosi so she escapes being pinned with any responsibility in protecting the Capitol.
Shocking.
Not exactly.
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