In the hours after Donald Trump’s supporters breached the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, Nancy Pelosi, the then-Democratic House Speaker, referred to the then-president as a “domestic enemy”, according to newly released video.
The footage, turned over to Congress by HBO and obtained by the BBC, shows 50 minutes of Ms Pelosi’s evacuation from the Capitol and conversations with staff and Democratic colleagues in the aftermath of the riot.
The clips chronicle Ms Pelosi as she prepared for a press conference the day after the attack, during which she planned to call for the US Capitol police chief’s resignation and sought to highlight Trump’s role.
“There is a domestic enemy in the White House,” Pelosi said. “Let’s not mince words about this.”
She ultimately did not use that phrase in her remarks, but is seen discussing the use of the 25th Amendment – which allows for a transfer of power from the president to the vice-president, either temporarily or permanently – to remove Trump from office.
In another clip, after Congress certified the election results, Ms Pelosi is asked about how she feels about Trump leaving office.
“I just feel sick what he did to the Capitol and to the country today,” she said in the back of an SUV in the early hours of 7 January. “He’s going to pay a price for that.”
Ms Pelosi’s daughter, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, captured the previously unaired footage of her mother that spanned 5-7 January 2021.
HBO turned over the footage this week to the Republican-led House Committee on Administration, which launched an investigation to study the findings of the Democratic-led House January 6 select committee.
The select committee released its final report in 2022 and found there was enough evidence to convict Trump of inciting the attack.
Trump and Republicans have blamed Ms Pelosi for the attack and the insufficient security at the Capitol.
“This batch of unaired HBO footage is nothing new,” said Georgia Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who leads the House Committee on Administration. “For over three years, Nancy Pelosi has refused to take responsibility for her failure to secure the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. Instead, she has pushed the focus of the failure on President Trump.”
The footage shows clips of Ms Pelosi evacuating the Capitol on the day of the attack and being led to a waiting SUV that would take her to Fort McNair.
She tells her security detail and staff to “prepare for what could happen” and “consider the worst” as they’re evacuating the Capitol.
The former House speaker is seen asking a member of her security detail if proceedings were continuing on the House floor to certify the election results.
“If they stopped the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the president of the United States,” she said.
Ms Pelosi took responsibility for Capitol security in several of the video clips.
“If they stopped the proceedings, we will have totally failed,” she said. “And we’ve got to take some responsibility for not holding the security accountable for what could have happened. We have got to finish the proceedings.”
Ms Pelosi appeared frustrated while raising questions on why the National Guard did not arrive to the Capitol during the attack. In the District of Columbia, the president has the authority to deploy the National Guard.
“I can’t believe the stupidity of these people,” Ms Pelosi said. “And I take full responsibility.”
The footage also show Ms Pelosi and her staff discussing the roles of US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, who had planned to retire after the inauguration.
One of Pelosi’s advisers said he met with Mr Irving who acknowledged “underestimating the crowd size and underestimating the president’s influence”, according to one video clip.
Both Mr Sund and Mr Irving were forced to resign hours after the riot.
Footage also shows Ms Pelosi on the phone a with a communications aide looking for approval on a pre-written statement calling for Mr Sund’s resignation.
“I think our focus has to be on the president,” she responds, “let’s not divert ourselves.”