Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show 2 Versions Of Pelosi On Phone With Pence On January 6, 2021 -- It's Deceptively Edited

Fact Check

  • by: Ed Payne
Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show 2 Versions Of Pelosi On Phone With Pence On January 6, 2021 -- It's Deceptively Edited Edited Audio
Does a video on social media show two versions of the same January 6, 2021, speakerphone call between then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence, apparently implying at least one of the versions was staged? No, that's not true: The actual video of the call following the U.S. Capitol attack on January 6 was deceptively edited to exactly repeat the vice president's comments when another congressional leader appeared on screen near the phone. The editing leaves the impression that the same Pence comments were repeated in two scenes. In the original video, Pence is heard saying something else during the second segment of the video.

The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by ThePeoplesAdvertiser on November 19, 2023, under the title "ARREST Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi." The post's caption said:

🤬🤬Pre-record : Pelosi never thought that these videos would be released. The Democrats entire J6 narrative is collapsing.

JUST IN: Damming video emerges showing two completely different scenes of Nancy Pelosi talking with Mike Pence on Jan 6 during the same phone conversation..

One scene shows Pelosi with Schumer and another shows Pelosi with Schumer and Grassley.

https://x.com/thewakeninq/status/1726146956106375639?s=46&t=suotsyXtunb3BsAZ7-46dg

#thepeoplesadvertiser

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

chrome_4OYmkvyQz7.png

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Nov 22 19:13:25 2023 UTC)

The TikTok video

The first 15 seconds of the TikTok video show Pelosi on speakerphone with Pence. Sen. Chuck Schumer, then-minority leader, is by her side. Pence can be heard saying the following to Pelosi:

I'm at the Capitol building. I'm literally standing with the chief of police of the U.S. Capitol Police. They believe that the House and the Senate will be able to reconvene in roughly an hour.

At the 16-second mark, the video abruptly cuts to show Pelosi and Schumer listening to Pence saying the same thing, this time with the addition of Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, then president pro tempore.

Around the halfway point of the video, a graphic appears on-screen with the following claim. It says:

EXACT SAME RECORDING.

TWO DIFFERENT SHOTS.

ONE WITH GRASSLEY --

ONE WITHOUT GRASSLEY.

ARREST NANCY PELOSI!!!!

Original video

In the original video (archived here), which aired on CNN on October 13, 2022, the first scene begins 34 seconds into the clip. That section includes the same Pence explanation that's in the social media video. Then, at the 1:57 mark, Grassley joins Pelosi and Schumer, standing in between them. Pence is still talking but he's saying something different than what's included in the edited clip on TikTok. Pence says:

[Talking to Schumer]: Leader, just consider this your, your, I'm just giving you a heads up. The Sergeant-at-Arms will give you the official but I, you know, I was very pleased to hear from the chief [of the U.S. Capitol Police]. He came over, he joined me here in the basement of the Capitol to inform me they think you'll be able to reconvene the Senate and Madame Speaker you'll be able to reconvene the House in roughly an hour.

While Pence delivers a similar message when Grassley is on the phone with Pelosi and Schumer, it's not the identical message that was edited into the social media video. Additionally, the two scenes are not two separate takes to go with a single message from the former vice president; the original video shows they happened separately, less than 90 seconds apart.

The full original video is embedded below:

Read more

Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol can be found here.

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  Ed Payne

Ed Payne is a staff writer at Lead Stories. He is an Emmy Award-winning journalist as part of CNN’s coverage of 9/11. Ed worked at CNN for nearly 24 years with the CNN Radio Network and CNN Digital. Most recently, he was a Digital Senior Producer for Gray Television’s Digital Content Center, the company’s digital news hub for 100+ TV stations. Ed also worked as a writer and editor for WebMD. In addition to his journalistic endeavors, Ed is the author of two children’s book series: “The Daily Rounds of a Hound” and “Vail’s Tales.” 

Read more about or contact Ed Payne

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