Hannity: January 6 committee must subpoena Pelosi if they are to be taken seriously

In his Opening Monologue on Monday, "Hannity" host Sean Hannity said the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol cannot be considered a serious legislative body if it continues to refuse any probe into why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser repeatedly refused to consider President Donald Trump's approval of 20,000 National Guard troops to protect the congressional campus.

Hannity also said it is clear that Wyoming Rep. Elizabeth Cheney, the committee's vice chairwoman, is simply being used as a "pawn" by Democrats like Pelosi and Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.

"We now know, and it has been confirmed and corroborated by numerous sources right here on this show, that Donald Trump authorized up to 20,000 National Guard soldiers to protect the Capitol. He authorized this two days before January 6. Now, why would he authorize that? Everybody knew a massive demonstration was planned. Everybody knew tensions were running high in the country and given what happened over the summer," Hannity said.

"Five hundred and seventy-four riots and all these people dead and all these cops hurt. Everyone knew that any large protest would be vulnerable to bad actors. We saw what had just happened in the summer of 2020."

Hannity said that once Trump approved the request, it was up to Pelosi and Bowser to take action – but they refused.

In that regard, if the committee seriously intends to get to the bottom of January 6, they must subpoena Pelosi and Bowser as intently as they have right-wing individuals – the list of which includes ex-advisers Stephen Bannon and Roger J. Stone, as well as talk show host Alexander Jones.

"We now know they blocked the National Guard assistance on multiple occasions. They refused to even call up the guard after the Capitol Police chief literally was begging for the National Guard; on at least six separate occasions that we've chronicled. So the question tonight is why? Why? Why not approve the extra security that the president allocated for? Why choose to leave lawmakers vulnerable with such a massive crowd that they knew would be going to the Capitol?"

Hannity pointed out that Thompson previously told the press that Pelosi was off-limits, while Cheney recently told Fox News that no one is off-limits.

"Liz Cheney tried to tell us that nothing was off-limits, but of course, Cheney is powerless in this committee, even though she's vice chair," Hannity said.

"In fact, she's being used frankly as a pawn by the very same people who -- as I've been reminding her -- accused her father of being an evil war criminal."

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"Meanwhile, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, Jim Banks of Indiana, they were booted from the committee by Nancy Pelosi. Now ask yourself why? Because they would ask the serious questions," Hannity later continued.

"Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Bowser; they would have been held accountable. Well, that can't happen… This committee is not about getting to the truth. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi is off limits, according to the chairman, and safeguarding our lawmakers at the Capitol should be a top priority. Instead, it's all about smearing Trump and his supporters."

"Are you or have you ever been a Donald Trump supporter? Anyone focused on securing the Capitol would look into additional fencing barriers. I would suggest that other security measures need to be put in place. Anyone actually interested in the truth and what went wrong would subpoena everyone responsible for bringing in the proper amount of security based on the conditions."

Hannity concluded that the panel is too focused on targeting people like Bannon for their political beliefs rather than executing a thorough and responsible probe as they claim to be doing.