US Senate Report: FBI, DHS 'Dropped the Ball' Ahead of Jan. 6

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Facts

  • The US Senate Homeland Security Committee has released a new report saying the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots were 'essentially planned in plain sight on social media' but that the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) 'completely dropped the ball' with respect to security measures.1
  • Released on Tuesday, the report says that despite having received 'multiple tips from numerous sources,' including that the Proud Boys' 'plan is to literally kill people,' the DHS on the morning of the riots said there was 'no indication of civil disobedience' and the FBI 'identified no credible or verified threat.'2
  • The New Orleans FBI field office was warned about a so-called Quick Reaction Force in Northern Virginia and the warning was then sent to all FBI offices, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), DHS, Justice Dept. (DOJ), National Security Agency (NSA), and State Dept.3
  • The report argues that if the DOJ and FBI “all knew” that thousands would be attending the day's events, “it is unacceptable that these agencies did not take sufficient steps to warn their partner agencies to prepare for such a threat.”4
  • The FBI said it has since increased its focus on “swift information sharing” with law enforcement partners and “made improvements to assist investigators and analysts in all of our field offices.” The DHS said it has also “strengthened intelligence analysis, information sharing and operational preparedness...”5
  • Meanwhile, the Senate report recommended the agencies conduct internal reviews of their pre-Jan. 6 actions, and improve their information sharing with other agencies.2

Sources: 1CNN, 2Forbes, 3Washington Post, 4Daily Caller and 5New York Times.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Daily Kos. It’s unthinkable that the same agencies that overstepped their bounds when collecting data on those protesting against police violence against Black people in 2020 and overreacted to those protests, failed to connect the dots in advance of the Jan. 6 riots. Clearly, these agencies are biased and must be reformed moving forward.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News. We need to get to the bottom of why the protests at the US Capitol got out of hand on Jan. 6, but the Democrat-dominated House Jan. 6 committee, and now this Democrat-authored Senate report, are too partisan to be taken as gospel. There must be an investigation by an independent third party to make sure criticism lands in the right place and the American people learn the truth versus the hyper-politicized Democratic narrative.