The chief in charge of Capitol Police and other law enforcement officials finally got their turn to tell what they knew, and when they knew about plans to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Former Chief Steven Sund, who resigned after the incident, told a Senate panel on Tuesday he learned just prior to the hearing the FBI did send a warning the night before the riot, but the bulletin was never disseminated to rank and file officers.
Sund acknowledged the information “would have been beneficial to be aware of” and indicated that the intelligence sharing failure was “under review.”
Paul Irving, the House’s top law enforcement officer, said the U.S. Capitol Police’s intelligence compiled from federal reports did not “forecast a coordinated assault” on the Capitol as had happened during the riot.
This information would have come in handy for former President Trump’s impeachment trial, because it turns out that impeachment managers were wrong.
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado told the Senate jury, which eventually acquitted Trump:
“You will learn that Capitol Police and the FBI reported in the days leading up to the attack that thousands in the crowd would be targeting the Capitol specifically.”
Neguse isn’t the only impeachment manager who relied on false information to prosecute the former president.
China’s favorite boy toy spy-bait, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, also relied on faulty information, as did lead House manager, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin who said:
“In the days leading up to the attack, you will learn that there were countless social media posts, news stories, and, most importantly, credible reports from the FBI and Capitol Police that the thousands gathering for the president’s Save America March were violent, organized with weapons, and were targeting the Capitol.”
There was no such report from Capitol Police.
The FBI warning was based on a message board thread that said attendees should “be ready to fight.”
“Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in … Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.”
But as Sund said, it would have been helpful if anyone in police headquarters actually distributed the warning.