Fox News never aired Tucker Carlson's interview with former Capitol Police chief, so Carlson did the interview again — and it's damning

Tucker Carlson's original interview with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has been kept under wraps at Fox News, notwithstanding recent footage leaks.

Certain that the American public ought to hear Sund's insights into the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol, Carlson decided to interview him again, publishing the result Thursday on Twitter.

In the interview, Sund indicated critical intelligence pertaining to possible threats ahead of the Jan. 6 protest was withheld from the Capitol Police and that the absence of such intelligence was cited by the congressional sergeants at arms — who were reporting to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the time — as cause not to reinforce the Capitol in advance with the National Guard and federal assets.

Between the "intelligence failure" and the waylaying of the National Guard, Carlson speculated that the U.S. Capitol Police may have been "set up."

Dammed intelligence

Sund, a police officer for over 30 years, was head of the U.S. Capitol Police from 2019 through the protests, but resigned Jan. 7 amid claims by Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others that "there was a failure of leadership at the top."

Speaking to Carlson, he once again detailed the apparent disparity between what was known in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 protests by various U.S. intelligence agencies about possible threats and what was ultimately shared with the Capitol Police, stressing the delta was "night and day."

Sund said the intelligence his team was left with suggested that "this was going to be just like the previous MAGA rallies, the November and December rallies that we had," but provided "absolutely zero" indication of possible threats against Capitol Police officers, the Capitol, and/or members of Congress.

"None of that was included in the intelligence" that the Capitol Police and its internal intel agency received, he said.

According to the former chief, "We now know FBI [and] DHS was swimming in that intelligence. We also know now that the military seemed to have some very concerning intelligence as well," adding that the FBI field office in Washington and other outfits "didn't put out a single official document specific to January 6. That's very unusual."

During a conference call on Jan. 5, 2021, with the leaders of the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI Washington field office along with National Guard, military officials, and others, "not one person on that call talked about any concerns from the intelligence ... that was out there."

"This was handled differently. ... It's almost like they wanted it to be watered down, the intelligence to be watered down for some reason," said Sund. "It wasn't right the way the intelligence was handled and the way we were set up on the Hill."

Carlson highlighted that Sund has previously characterized this as an "intelligence failure," but noted that a "failure is something that happens accidentally, and I don't see how this could be accidental," adding later, "This sounds like a setup to me."

Handicapping the National Guard

Casting additional doubt on the accidental nature of the supposed "intelligence failure," Sund noted that then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley had "both discussed locking down the city of Washington, D.C., because they were so worried about violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6."

"On Sunday and Monday, they had been discussing locking down the city, revoking permits on Capitol hill because of the concern for violence," continued Sund. "You know who issues the permits on Capitol Hill for demonstrations? I do. You know who wasn't told? Me."

Sund indicated that Miller did not reach out to him but instead issued a memo on Jan. 4 "restricting the National Guard from carrying various weapons, any weapons, any civil disobedience equipment" that would likely have been appropriate in terms of dealing with the threats the military had allegedly been worried about.

This memo handcuffed the National Guard from responding when the Capitol Police later begged for the Guard's assistance, suggested Sund.

Extra to being effectively disarmed, the National Guard were apparently waylaid by decisions made in Congress, specifically by the Capitol Police Board, which has since been overhauled.

Sund said that on Jan. 3 he went to then-House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and then-Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, voting members on the Capitol Police Board, requesting approval, as was required by law, to bring in "federal assistance in advance," namely the National Guard.

At the time, these individuals reported to Pelosi and McConnell, respectively.

"I was denied twice because of optics and because the intelligence didn't support it," said Sund.

Concerning optics, Miller indicated "there was absolutely no way" he was going to put military personnel on the Capitol for fear of fueling suspicion he was aiding in a coup, reported the New York Times.

On Jan. 6, as soon as protesters "started attacking" on the west front of the Capitol, Sund said he called Irving again, at 12:58 a.m., asking for assistance and federal resources.

"I'm told by Paul Irving, 'I'm going to run it up the chain and I'll get back to you.' ... The chain would be up to Nancy Pelosi. He didn't have to do that. But he wouldn't give me authorization," said Sund.

When asked, Stenger, who passed away last summer, allegedly deferred to Irving's decision, which was to effectively wait for Pelosi's input, according to Sund.

Approval didn't come until over 71 minutes later.

"I just want to pause on this for a minute," responded Carlson. "So this is an event that Pelosi herself has likened to Pearl Harbor and 9/11 — you know, the worst thing that's ever happened on American soil — and she's in charge of allowing the National Guard to come in and respond but she doesn't for 71 minutes? What is that?"

"If you were conspiracy-minded, you might think that certain agencies concluded there was likely to be chaos at the Capitol and that served their political purposes, and so they let it happened and they prevented you from stopping it," said Carlson.

Watch the full interview here:

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