A new report from a Senate probe into Jan. 6 found that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to adequately prepare for the scheduled protest at the Capitol by downplaying multiple warnings of possible violence.
In a 105-page report released by the U.S. Senate Committee On Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, legislators found that the FBI and the DHS “obtained multiple tips from numerous sources” in the days and weeks prior to January 6. Rather than act on that intelligence, however, “the agencies failed to fulfill their mission and connect the public and nonpublic information they received,” the report stated.
Entitling their report “Planned in Plain Sight,” the committee specified certain intelligence tips regarding January 6 that should have prompted action from one or both of the agencies.
A scathing new report from Democrats on a Senate panel accuses the FBI of “downplaying” and failing to thoroughly communicate the risks and warnings ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/TbeHfk5OKT
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 27, 2023
In December 2020, the FBI received information that the Proud Boys were planning to be in D.C. to “literally kill people.” On Jan. 3, the FBI were made aware of multiple social media posts calling for violence against officials and others which called for the storming of the Capitol building. On Jan. 4, Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership acknowledged some of the concerning posts which called for the occupation of multiple federal buildings.
The DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) also received intelligence of possible violence on January 6 in December 2020 with online commenters indicating the planned use of weapons against law enforcement in and around the Capitol building. Later that month, I&A were made aware of online discussions that indicated an organized uprising with commenters boasting the “police/military won’t be able to stop thousands of armed patriots.”
Despite these discussions, the FBI and DHS identified “no credible or verifiable threat” and “no indication of civil disobedience” respectively. (RELATED: Newly Unearthed Jan. 6 Footage ‘demolishes’ Dems’ ‘Insurrection Claims, Tucker Carlson Says)
“Even without actionable or credible threats, the agencies should have communicated the concerning volume of violent rhetoric specifically targeting the U.S. Capitol and the overall heightened threat environment surrounding January 6th,” the committee reasoned.
“Indeed, if DOJ and FBI “all knew” that thousands of people would come to the Capitol to disrupt Congress from certifying the U.S. presidential election, as former officials later recalled, it is unacceptable that these agencies did not take sufficient steps to warn their partner agencies to prepare for such a threat,” the committee continued.