. . . The admission that House and Senate security leaders failed to provide Capitol Police with resources on the day will raise questions over their role in the day’s events.

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Washington Post reported late Sunday night:

Two days before Congress was set to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was growing increasingly worried about the size of the pro-Trump crowds expected to stream into Washington in protest.

To be on the safe side, Sund asked House and Senate security officials for permission to request that the D.C. National Guard be placed on standby in case he needed quick backup. . . .

In his first interview since pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Sund, who has since resigned his post, said his supervisors were reluctant to take formal steps to put the Guard on call even as police intelligence suggested that the crowd President Trump had invited to Washington to protest his defeat probably would be much larger than earlier demonstrations.

House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he wasn’t comfortable with the “optics” of formally declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstration, Sund said. Meanwhile, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger suggested that Sund should informally seek out his Guard contacts, asking them to “lean forward” and be on alert in case Capitol Police needed their help. . . .

Sund recalled a conference call with Pentagon officials and officials from the D.C. government. He said on the call: “I am making an urgent, urgent immediate request for National Guard assistance… I have got to get boots on the ground.” . . .

The Dodgy Timeline.

And while the Washington Post clumsily attempts to blame President Trump for the violence – despite the President calling for “peaceful” protests and the “cheering on” of Congressmen – their own article admits the “first wave of protesters arrived at the Capitol about 12:40pm.”

President Trump’s speech didn’t conclude until 1:11pm, and with at least a 45-minute walk between the two locations with crowd-related delays, that would put the first people from Trump’s speech at Capitol Hill no earlier than 1:56pm – a full hour and sixteen minutes after troublemakers arrived. . . .

Again, 1pm would have been a full 56-minutes before any Trump speech-attendees could have begun arriving, let alone breaching the perimeter and clashing with police. Downtown Washington, D.C. roads were closed. There was no way of arriving faster, let alone before the President had finished speaking.

At 1:09pm, still before the President had finished speaking, Sund called the Sergeants-at-arms of the House and Senate. He told them it was time to call in the National Guard. He even said he wanted an emergency declaration. Both, however, said they would “run it up the chain” and get back to him.

At 1:50pm the Capitol itself was breached. Still before most Trump speech attendees could have arrived. . . .

Eventually – at past 5pm – the National Guard arrived.

And while Sund is quoted in the Washington Post as blaming President Trump’s speech for the violence that ensued – the timeline means that makes no sense.

The President’s fans are not known for leaving his speeches 5 or 10 minutes in. And by the time the Capitol was breached, those who had stayed to listen to even the first 15 minutes would not have even made it there in time.

(Excerpt from The National Pulse. Article by Raheem Kassam. Photo Credit: Getty Images.)