House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday criticized a reporter who raised a question about whether Democratic leaders did enough to prepare the Capitol for the massive Jan. 6 protest that turned into a violent attack.
“Your question is a waste of time,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, told a Washington Examiner reporter.
The Washington Examiner asked a question based on a warning from Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who said the GOP is prepared to call in the FBI at former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial next week to “tell us about people who planned this attack and what happened with the security footprint at the Capitol.”
Graham last month questioned why security measures were not in place to prevent the attack on the Capitol.
“Where was Nancy Pelosi?” Graham said on Fox News. “It’s her job to provide Capitol security.”
Graham has since pledged to investigate the security weaknesses at the Capitol ahead of the attack, including warnings Capitol law enforcement received ahead of the Jan. 6 protest from the FBI about the possibility of a “war” instigated by a violent mob.
Security readiness could arise in next week’s impeachment trial, Graham said, if Democrats decide to call witnesses. In that instance, the GOP may try to call their own list of people to testify.
“We’ll want the FBI to come in,” Graham told Fox News this week.
Pelosi’s top aides have condemned efforts to pin the blame for the attack on the California Democrat.
“This disgraceful attempt to shift blame for the mob attack on the Capitol is absurd & pathetic,” Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill tweeted in response to Graham.
