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Senate Report focuses on security, planning and response failures related to January 6 attack on the Capitol

WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Today, U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Rules and Administration, released a bipartisan report on the security, planning, and response failures related to the violent and unprecedented attack on January 6th.  The report also includes a series of recommendations for the Capitol Police Board, United States Capitol Police (USCP),  federal intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense (DOD), and other Capital region law enforcement agencies…The Committees’ investigation uncovered a number of failures leading up to and on January 6th that allowed for the Capitol to be breached. These breakdowns ranged from federal intelligence agencies failing to warn of a potential for violence to a lack of planning and inadequate-preparation by USCP and law enforcement:

  • The Federal Intelligence Community—led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—did not warn of a potential for violence on January 6th.
  • USCP intelligence components failed to convey the full scope of threat information they possessed.
  • USCP was not adequately prepared to prevent or respond to the January 6th security threats, which contributed to the breach of the Capitol.
  • Opaque processes and a lack of emergency authority delayed requests for National Guard assistance.
  • The intelligence failures, coupled with the Capitol Police Board’s failure to request National Guard assistance prior to January 6th, meant the District of Columbia National Guard (DCNG) was not activated, staged, and prepared to quickly respond to an attack on the Capitol. As the attack unfolded, the Department of Defense (DOD) required time to approve the request and gather, equip, and instruct its personnel on the mission, which resulted in additional delays…”
  • Full text of the report [128 pages] and recommendations is available for download HERE

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