Federal agencies created at least 26 intelligence reports ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, forewarning about potential violence on Capitol Hill, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO report, released earlier this month, examined 10 federal agencies and their role in obtaining and sharing open-source information before the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Senior law enforcement officials have blamed a lack of intelligence for why law enforcement seemingly wasn’t prepared, but the GAO report said the U.S. government had at least 26 reports forewarning about violence in the days and months before the event.
“All 10 selected agencies—including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which have lead roles in countering domestic terrorism and violent extremism—were aware of open-source data about planned events on January 6 and seven were aware of potential violence planned for that day,” the May 2 report said….