Intelligence officials certainly never envisioned a mass attack against the government incited by the sitting president. government has been consumed with heading off future terrorist plots since 9/11, its agencies failed to effectively harness the security and intelligence infrastructure built in the wake of that assault by Islamic extremists to look inward at domestic threats. The paralysis that led to one of the biggest security failures in the nation’s history was driven by unique breakdowns inside each law enforcement agency and was exacerbated by the patchwork nature of security across a city where responsibilities are split between local and federal authorities. “The individual or group identified during the Assessment does not warrant further FBI investigation at this time,” the internal report concluded. The FBI passed the information to law enforcement agencies in D.C. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) as a target.Īn FBI official who assessed the tip noted that its criminal division had received a “significant number” of alerts about threats to Congress and other government officials. On one site, a poster specifically mentioned Sen.
The tipster offered specifics: Those planning violence believed they had “orders from the President,” used code words such as “pickaxe” to describe guns and posted the times and locations of four spots around the country for caravans to meet the day before the joint session.
20: Trump supporters were discussing online how to sneak guns into Washington to “overrun” police and arrest members of Congress in January, according to internal bureau documents obtained by The Post. One of the most striking flares came when a tipster called the FBI on the afternoon of Dec. 6, the makings of the insurrection had been spotted at every level, from one side of the country to the other. While the public may have been surprised by what happened on Jan. Some of those who were interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions or sensitive information. This investigation is based on interviews with more than 230 people and thousands of pages of court documents and internal law enforcement reports, along with hundreds of videos, photographs and audio recordings. Alerts were raised by local officials, FBI informants, social media companies, former national security officials, researchers, lawmakers and tipsters, new documents and firsthand accounts show. 6, according to a Washington Post investigation, which found a cascade of previously undisclosed warnings preceded the attack on the Capitol. Harvin was one of numerous people inside and outside of government who alerted authorities to the growing likelihood of deadly violence on Jan. Donell Harvin and his team at D.C.'s homeland security office picked up increasing signs that supporters of President Donald Trump were planning violence in Washington on Jan.