Multiple agencies launch Capitol security review
Internal investigators for the departments of Justice, Defense, the Interior and Homeland Security will investigate how security officials prepared for and responded to last week’s pro-Trump rally in Washington that descended into a riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials announced Friday.
The inspectors general for all of those agencies will review what people knew and how they prepared for that day, Jan. 6, along with their actions during the riot that resulted in five deaths, according to news releases. Questions have swirled about how such an important government building — with so many security agencies available to assist — could be overcome by a mob of people wielding bats, bear spray and brute force.
Some current and former law enforcement officials have called the disturbing incident an intelligence failure, in that federal agencies did not seem to have a sense of the urgency or danger leading up to the attack. Others have argued it was less a failure of intelligence than a failure to act on the intelligence gathered, much of it from public discussions online.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the FBI’s Norfolk, Va., office circulated an intelligence report a day before the riot warning of talk online to storm Congress, break windows, push in doors and “get violent. … Get ready for war.” FBI officials said they shared that information the same day with other law enforcement agencies, but some senior officials outside the FBI have said they never saw it. FBI Director Christopher Wray and acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen were not briefed on the document because it was considered a raw intelligence product and investigators had not identified those responsible for the posts, according to officials familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to its sensitivity. Wray was briefed in advance about violent chatter online more broadly and about information the FBI’s sources were relaying concerning suspected extremists intending to travel to the Capitol.
Dozens of people in Washington on the day of the riot were previously identified on a government watch list as potential terrorist suspects, according to people familiar with the matter.
The multiagency review was announced as the nation’s capital is on edge, with a growing security presence aimed to dissuade any further violence this weekend or at President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. Government officials are sealing off streets and some large public areas in hopes of preventing a repeat of last week’s chaos.
The Justice Department review “will include examining information relevant to the January 6 events that was available to DoJ and its components in advance of January 6; the extent to which such information was shared by DoJ and its components with the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local agencies; and the role of DoJ personnel in responding to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office said in a statement.
Horowitz’s office will examine “whether there are any weaknesses in DoJ protocols, policies, or procedures that adversely affected the ability of DOJ or its components to prepare effectively for and respond to the events at the U.S. Capitol,” the statement said, adding that his office may also examine other issues that arise during the course of his investigation.
The review is unlikely to produce quick results, since inspector general investigations typically take months or years to complete, and this one spans four large government departments.
The announcement of such a probe, as the FBI’s sprawling national investigation into the attack is barely a week old, underscores the degree of concern in government circles that vital intelligence may have been missed or mishandled. In his statement, Horowitz said his office “is mindful of the sensitive nature of the ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions” and will “take care to ensure that the review does not interfere with these.”