US congressional intelligence and homeland security committees are opening investigations into why federal and local law enforcement agencies did not pay closer attention to a warning the day before pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol.
They join the Senate homeland security and rules committees investigating security lapses at the Capitol complex on January 6, which resulted in rioters entering the building and threatening legislators, congressional staff and members of the media.
On January 5, the FBI's office in Norfolk, Virginia, circulated a warning widely to law enforcement agencies that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and "war," the FBI has confirmed.
Supporters of President Donald Trump rampaged in the building following a speech in which the Republican urged them to fight Democrat President-elect Joe Biden's election victory. Trump falsely claims he lost because of widespread voting fraud. The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to impeach Trump on charges of incitement.
The FBI bulletin was "raw, open source" intelligence, meaning the FBI had not confirmed it, a law enforcement source said, a possible explanation for the weak police response.
The Senate intelligence committee, whose chairman in the new Congress will be Democrat Mark Warner, is collecting information and will interview witnesses on why federal and local agencies did not respond more aggressively and effectively to the FBI warning, a committee official said.
The FBI declined to comment on the congressional probes and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The House intelligence committee, led by Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat, is also digging into why law enforcement agencies, in light of the warning bulletin, did not prepare more thoroughly for the kind of violence that occurred, a committee official said.
Meanwhile, the House committee on homeland security, chaired by Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, will also dig into how federal security agencies performed.
Congress also is expected to investigate how social media and technology companies were used to organise the rampage.
Australian Associated Press
