Senators Report ‘Shocking’ Jan. 6 Intelligence Failures by FBI, DHS

Protesters gather at the police line on the west side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Special to The Epoch Times

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to adequately assess and warn law enforcement agencies about the level of threat the Capitol faced on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a new Senate report.

The report (pdf), drafted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, details how the FBI and DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis failed to “fully and accurately assess the severity” of the event despite receiving multiple tips in the days and weeks leading up to the breach.

“Despite the high volume of tips and online traffic about the potential for violence—some of which the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis were aware of as early as December 2020—these agencies failed to sound the alarm and share critical intelligence information that could have helped law enforcement better prepare for the events of January 6th, 2021,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the committee’s chairman, said in a June 27 statement.

‘Shocking’ Failure

In the months following the Capitol breach, Peters led a Senate investigation of the security, planning, and response failures that contributed to the chaos on Jan. 6. The second investigation homed in on the intelligence failures that preceded the event.

According to the report, the FBI and the Department of Justice received relevant information from multiple sources prior to the breach, including tips and social media posts that suggested violence might break out.

One such tip the report cites warned that the Proud Boys would be in Washington on Jan. 6 and planned to “literally kill people.” Other examples included a tip about a TikTok video of someone holding a gun, urging people to “storm the Capitol” on Jan. 6, and a Parler post that encouraged protesters to set up an armed encampment on the National Mall.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) during a Senate Homeland Security Committee in Washington on July 30, 2019. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Despite this and other collected intelligence, the FBI “continued to downplay the overall threat,” the report charges, citing internal emails in which agents had indicated the bureau “identified no credible or verified threat.”

Likewise, as late as the morning of Jan. 6, a senior watch officer at the DHS National Operations Center reported that there was “no indication of civil disobedience,” even though department analysts and intelligence collectors had identified online comments and discussions calling for armed violence.

“My report shows there was a shocking failure of imagination from these intelligence agencies to take these threats seriously, and there is no question that their failures to effectively analyze and share the threat information contributed to the failures to prevent and respond to the horrific attack that unfolded at the Capitol,” Peters said. “I’ll continue pressing for our national security apparatus and intelligence agencies to learn from their missteps so that an attack of this nature never happens again.”

‘Partisan Car Wreck’

In response to the report, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told Fox News that a truly objective investigation into the events of Jan. 6 needed to be conducted to get to the truth of what happened.

“We haven’t had an opportunity to have a real objective analysis of what happened on Jan. 6, before and after,” he said. “What the Democrats in the House did was basically a partisan car wreck. We only got half of the information. Republicans were excluded. There have been no attempts in the Senate, by Senator Schumer.

“I think what we need is an objective look, if necessary, by some nonpartisan outside experts,” he added. “The American people would like to know.”

Calling the Capitol breach an “abomination,” Kennedy said the American public was entitled to know why the incident occurred and why the government was so ill-prepared given the available intelligence.

“I just don’t know why the Justice Department and the leadership in the House and Senate and the FBI won’t just tell the American people the truth. The institutions in Washington are not going to regain their integrity in the eyes of the American people until they start telling the truth. And I’m afraid the truth is that all these people think the American people are morons.”

The senator added that Americans “might be poorer under Joe Biden, but they aren’t stupid. They get that something is very, very wrong in all this, and it upsets them … on both sides that they can’t get any answers.”

‘Like They Wanted This to Happen’

Questions over the federal government’s share of the blame for what happened on Jan. 6 continue to be raised by many who feel the public has not been told the full story.

At a June 13 field hearing on the matter held in the Capitol Visitor Center, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) said the incident was such an “epic law-enforcement failure” that he found it difficult to believe it wasn’t planned that way.

“I believe that they hid the intelligence,” Nehls said. “It’s like they wanted this to happen.”

Others have also raised concerns about the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants awaiting trial. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been a leading voice on that front amid reports that prisoners have been denied medical treatment, basic hygiene, religious services, and visitation with family members.

Greene, speaking at the hearing, said she and a contingent of other House Republicans intended to use the power of the purse to “hold the weaponized government accountable.”

While she acknowledged that doing so would be a challenge, Greene added that she didn’t care how long it took.

“This is the most important battle we have,” she said. “American citizens are being treated worse than people that are invading our country with deadly fentanyl, human trafficking, sex trafficking and trafficking children.”

Joseph Lord and Joseph M. Hanneman contributed to this report.