Watchdog: Capitol Police Need To Pivot From Reactionary To Protection Posture

A detailed review of the Jan. 6 insurrection by the U.S. Capitol Police’s inspector general is set for discussion at a House hearing on Thursday.                                                    Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The panel’s chair, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, called for the hearing after receiving a briefing from Bolton last month. Lofgren, D-Calif., said the report provides “detailed and disturbing findings and important recommendations.”

The full report, of which only portions have been released so far, said officers were hindered by leadership decisions and equipment deficiencies that left the force ill-prepared to respond to the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a new watchdog report, which found that some advance intelligence offered a “more alarming” warning ahead of the day’s events.

Ahead of the insurrection, the report said Capitol Police did not place enough emphasis on threat analysis and assessments of threats. An analysis by the agency’s own intelligence division offered somewhat conflicting details ahead of Jan. 6, with one section offering what Bolton called “more alarming language” than another.

“Supporters of the current president see January 6, 2021, as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election,” the analysis said in one section, according to Bolton’s report. “This sense of desperation and disappointment may lead to more of an incentive to become violent.”

It goes on to say, “Congress itself is the target on the 6th.”