Security officials cast blame for Jan. 6 failures at Capitol

Testifying publicly for the first time about the Jan. 6 insurrection, former security officials are poised to cast blame on the Pentagon, the intelligence community and one another for the disastrous failure to anticipate a violent outcome and to defend the U.S. Capitol. According to prepared remarks, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund will describe to two Senate committees Tuesday a scene that was “like nothing” he had seen in his 30 years of policing. Klobuchar said senators would be especially focused on the timing of the deployment of the National Guard, which eventually arrived to help the overwhelmed police; how security agencies shared information ahead of the attack; and if the command structure of the Capitol Police Board, which includes the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, contributed to the failures. Klobuchar said Tuesday’s hearing would be the first of at least two public examinations of what went wrong that day as the Senate panels undertook a joint investigation into the security failures. The day after the riot, Sund said his force “had a robust plan established to address anticipated 1st Amendment activities.” It soon became clear that although Capitol Police had prepared for protests, they were vastly unprepared for a violent insurrection — and many were beaten as they tried in vain to keep rioters from entering the building.