As a House panel holds its first hearing outlining what took place during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Republicans are pointing the finger at Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The hearing will start at 8 p.m. Thursday, marking an unprecedented prime-time meeting televised on most major news outlets.

Republicans are accusing Pelosi of not working to bolster security at the Capitol complex ahead of the invasion of the building. The insurrection forced members of Congress, Vice President Mike Pence, staff, and media to relocate to a secure location. It also interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election for several hours.

"If they really believed in getting to the truth, they would have kept Jim Banks and Jim Jordan on the committee to ask those questions and get the truth,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, the House minority whip.

However, part of their argument hinges on accusations that Pelosi waved off National Guard assistance before the insurrection. According to the Associated Press, Pelosi would have had little control over requesting National Guard assistance. The AP reported that the decision to request additional resources comes from the Capitol Police Board, which includes the House Sergeant at Arms, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol.

“On January 6th, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was. This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on January 6th and divert blame,” Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi told The Associated Press in an email.

The National Guard arrived at the Capitol hours after the insurrection started. Guard members stayed at the complex for several months.

There is also no evidence that Pelosi, nor McConnell, made any efforts to block additional security at the Capitol.

Republicans also criticized Pelosi for not permitting several Republicans from joining the committee. The panel includes two Republicans, including a former member of House GOP leadership. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, the committee’s lone Republicans, both voted to impeach President Donald Trump.

While Republicans promised to issue a report of their own highlighting the security failures on Jan. 6, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to say who he think won the 2020 presidential election.

McCarthy himself has become a target of the committee’s investigation. He has reportedly rejected a subpoena. Democrats are interested in McCarthy’s contact with the president around the time of the riot.

WASHINGTON —

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has been having conversations with former Attorney General William Barr, the committee's chairman said Sunday.

"To be honest with you, we've had conversations with the former attorney general already," Rep. Bennie Thompson told Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" when asked if the committee would go to Barr. "We've talked to Department of Defense individuals. We are concerned that our military was part of this big lie on promoting that the election was false."

Related video above: Rep. Liz Cheney calls out fellow Republican and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for not cooperating with the Jan. 6 investigation

The Mississippi Democrat continued, "So, if you are using the military, to potentially seize these voting machines, even though it's a discussion, the public needs to know, we've never had that before."

Thompson's remarks came in response to a question regarding text of a draft executive order that had been presented to then-President Donald Trump in December of 2020 to have the secretary of defense seize voting machines in battleground states.

Barr, who was a staunch defender of Trump during his tenure at the Department of Justice and pushed the administration's "law and order" message, resigned in December 2020 after rebuking the then-president's false claims about widespread election fraud.

It is unclear who wrote the draft order, which is full of legal language asserting presidential powers to seize the election equipment and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

The draft, which was published by Politico last week, also said the defense secretary could identify National Guard units to be federalized to help the effort. The document also appears to be one that Trump fought to block from the Jan. 6 select committee, which is investigating his attempts to subvert the 2020 election.

It was dated Dec. 16, 2020, according to the document published by Politico, which is two days after the Electoral College met in state capitals to formalize President Joe Biden's victory, dealing a huge blow to Trump's attempts to overturn the election.

Thompson also said he wasn't aware of an operational plan but just the draft itself.

"We do know that a potential person was identified to become the attorney general of the United States, who would communicate with certain states that the election on their situation had been fraudulent and not to produce certified documents," he said.